The Best Friend
by Lenetjie
Summary: "Alice I know best friends share everything. But that did not include my girlfriend." Bella is Edward's girlfriend. Alice is Edward's best friend. Therefore Bella is completely of limits. Love: it's not always black and white. AH
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.**

**Chapter 1**

"Bella come on. We are going to be late." Edward moaned from the living room. I pulled my sweat shirt over my head and made my way downstairs.

"What is the rush?" I asked as I walked into the foyer.

"I don't want to be late. Plus Alice will be there and it's the first time she is home in two years." He smiled a soft adoring smile he only reserved for Alice. A smile I have only seen when he talked about his best friend.

She went to some boarding school in Europe last year. Rumor is, she was pregnant or something but no one knows why she left. Edward told me that she had her own reason for leaving. He wouldn't say what the reason was. Only that she was definitely not pregnant. I never met the girl since I only moved here six months ago.

"You know the only girl who you are supposed to get excited about is me." I teased him.

"Babe, you make me excited in a lot of ways in times when I'm not supposed to be excited but…..Alice is back!" I laughed as he exclaimed the last part. He picked me up and twirled me in a little circle.

"Well, let's get going then." He took my hand in his big one and basically towed me out of the house.

He opened the car door for me before hastily jogging around the car and climbed in beside me. My seatbelt was barely fastened before he took off.

"Slow down Edward. You know I don't like it when you speed like this." I said gripping the sides of the seat nervously.

"This is still slow Bella." He said but he lifted his foot of the pedal just a smidgen.

I finally relaxed when he stopped in front of his parent's house. My fingers were a bit numb from grasping the seat so tightly.

"It wasn't that bad, babe." I just glared at him. He leaned forward suddenly and kissed me lightly on the lips. "Feel better?"

I squinted my eyes at him, raising my hand. My thumb and second finger was inches apart. "You look so cute when you do that." He kissed me again before climbing out of the car.

I rolled my eyes. Bella you have a super hot boyfriend. Who cares if you die in a car crash? At least you will die next to a super model. I smiled at my own little inside joke.

"What is so funny?" Edward asked as he opened the door for me.

"You're hot." I said and he grinned at me.

"Ok." He said dragging out the o sound. He slipped his arm around me and together we walked to his front door. He opened it for me and let me walk first. I was barely through the door when something blurred past me and almost ran Edward over.

"Edward, oh my word did I miss you." A voice said against his chest.

A shiver, I couldn't place, ran down my spine. The first thing I saw was spiky hair. Not the over gelled spiky hair that some guys take ages to perfect, but spiky hair that stood in every direction while looking as soft as silk at the same time. Then I noticed that this person was short. At least three inched shorter than me. And I was your normal average teenager. Most people are taller than me. So that would make her like, super short.

"I missed you too." Edward said as she stepped back from him. "Alice did you get shorter?"

She laughed. "No, I'm just the same as always. You on the other hand got taller. Are you using an experimental drug or something?"

We laughed and she suddenly looked at me. "I'm sorry, how rude of me. I'm Alice."

She had the most delicate features and her eyes were blue. Like Ocean blue or something. And her eyelashes were thick and long, they actually framed her eyes. I shook my head a little to get rid of this stupor I was caught up in.

What the fuck was wrong with me?

She frowned and I only now realized that she was holding her hand out waiting for me to shake it.

"I…. I'm …I'm Bella." I stuttered taking her hand, dropping it immediately when, what felt like, an electric current ran through my hand.

I looked at her to see if she felt it too but she only looked at me quirking a perfectly shaped eyebrow. Ok I must be imagining things.

"Babe, are you ok." Huh…. I looked from her to Edward, feeling slightly dazed.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

He shrugged and took my hand. No electric current shocked me this time and I sighed with relief smiling up at him.

"I'm perfectly fine."

"Well let's go into the rest of the house then shall we." I nodded and heard Alice close the door before following us towards the loving room.

How could one girl unnerve me so much? I never ever stumbled over my words. And what was with that crazy electric feeling? Maybe I am seeing things. I mean if I really was shocked Alice would have felt it too, right?

"Bella, it is so nice to see you." Esme said lovingly as I gave her a hug. She sat down again next to Carlisle who was watching a baseball game. He smiled at me briefly before focusing all of his attention back on the game.

"It's nice to see you too Esme. Thank you for inviting me." Edward and I sat down on the love seat and Alice sat down next to Esme. They began talking about what boarding school life was like.

"It was amazing. They have some of the best teachers, classes was very interesting and the other students even more so." Her whole face lit up from excitement.

"Just how many hearts did you break while you were there?" Edward teased and she threw him with a pillow.

"That is none of your business Edward." She scolded him he only threw the pillow back at her.

"So there was absolutely no one special?" He asked placing an arm around my shoulder pulling me into him and I relaxed into his side.

She looked at us and smiled. "Not as special as you seem to have." I blushed and Edward kissed the top of my head.

Esme excused herself to go check on the food.

"Bella is the best thing that ever happened to me." Edward said and I sighed.

"No I'm not. I almost got you killed." He chuckled and Alice frowned.

"I sense a good story there."

"It's not a good story. It's a disaster." I mumbled. This got me a curious look from her.

Edward laughed. "It really was a disaster. It was the middle of winter and the school day was finally done. So naturally everyone was hurrying to their cars. Bella here was so scared about slipping and falling on the dried ice…" He paused to nudge me playfully with his elbow. "She didn't look out for oncoming traffic. Well Taylor would have run her over with his truck if I didn't heroically swoop in and pushed her to safety."

I blushed feeling ashamed of doing something so stupid. "So how did you almost die?" She asked and I sighed.

"Because, unlike Superman who would have airlifted me out of there or something. He tackled me into a pile of snow. A large rock was covered by the snow and he literally plowed his head into it."

"Well I only got a concussion so it wasn't that bad." Edward said smiling down on me.

"I was only lucky that you had a thick head." He glared at me and was about to say something when his mother interrupted him.

"Dinner is ready guys." I sighed in relief.

"Don't think you are of the hook missy." Edward said teasingly before kissing my cheek. Alice rolled her eyes before heading towards the dining room.

We helped ourselves to the food before settling around the table. Alice was seated across from me and Edward was seated on my right, his hand gently resting on my thigh.

"Alice, how long will you be staying in Forks?" Carlisle asked her and she smiled.

"Well, I'm back for good. I just have to sort out a few things with the school but there shouldn't be any problems." Alice said smiling at them. Her eyes crinkled a little as she smiled and I was convinced that she had the most beautiful smile in the world.

"You mean it?" Edward asked excitedly. Alice nodded and I could feel the joy radiating from Edward.

"Your parents must be thrilled." Esme said.

"Oh yes, they couldn't be happier." She said and this time there was a soft smile playing around her mouth. She had a lot of affection for her parents.

She and Edward discussed what classes she would be taking. It seemed that she would be in three of my classes and two of his. After dinner I wondered to the bench on the Cullen's back porch. Edward was helping his mother with the dishes and even though I offered they told me that my help wasn't needed.

I still didn't know why I was having such weird reactions towards Alice. I would find myself watching her, even though I was most certain that I didn't intend to do it. She seemed like a great person and I didn't have a problem with her whatsoever but still she unnerved me a little.

"Mind if I join you, it is such a nice night out." Alice suddenly asked making me jump. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." She said softly.

"It's ok. I just didn't hear you." She smiled and looked at me expecting something.

I frowned and then remembered that she asked me a question. "Oh….yeah…..I mean yes. Yes you can join me if you want to." I stammered and she laughed.

"Are you always this articulate?" She asked sitting down next to me.

Her shoulder touched mine briefly and I was hit with strange tingles. I looked at her but she just looked at me waiting for an answer. I swallowed nervously. Why was I nervous?

"Only when I'm nervous." I said without thinking. Ok seriously, word vomit? Since when did I word vomit?

"Do I make you nervous?" She asked sifting away from me a little.

"No…. yes…..I don't know. I think I might be sick." She stood up suddenly.

"I'll go ask Carlisle to give you a quick examination."

"No, that won't be necessary. I'm sure it is only my imagination. Really don't worry about it." She hesitated. "Really, I'm fine." She nodded and sat down again. She made sure that her shoulder didn't brush mine again.

"So how long have you and Edward been together?" She asked and I shrugged.

"About five months. A great five months." I added smiling like a love sick puppy.

She smiled back at me before looking at the back yard. I settled into the bench enjoying the peacefulness. Crickets were making their soft music and I even heard an owl hoot in the distance. "It's beautiful." I said with my eyes closed.

"Yes it is." I opened my eyes and found her looking at me. She looked away quickly. "It's so different than Europe. There it is all city lights and noises."

I nodded. "Do you miss any of it?" She sighed looking up at the sky. I followed her gaze and was met by nothing.

"That is something I don't miss, the clouds. I would like to see the stars." I smiled and looked at her.

"You are avoiding the question." She looked at me cocking her perfect eyebrow again.

"Most people would change the subject out of politeness."

I shrugged. "Guess that is why they say most people and not all people since I'm not going to change the subject."

She huffed. "I don't have to answer your question."

I shrugged. "Ah, I see." I said looking at the tree line. "When someone breaks your heart you don't want to remember."

She didn't say anything and I looked at her. She was staring at me, her eyes scrounged up in a frown. "It's ok Alice. You don't have to answer my question."

"Then don't say it all hint like, like that. I don't owe you anything." She said sarcastically.

"I didn't…."

She interrupted me. "No don't you dare think that just because you are Edward's girlfriend that, that makes us best friends or anything."

She got up and stormed into the house. I sat there stunned by the sudden outburst. What the fuck?

"What did you do to Alice? Did you stab her with something?" Edward asked sounding a little worried.

"I didn't do anything. That girl has got some issues." I said defensively.

"All girls have issues." Came his smart reply, as he sat down next to me.

"Yeah well, her issues got issues." I was still distracted by her sudden outburst. Who got so much under her skin that a simple question can seem so hard to talk about? Well that was not really my problem. It wasn't like we were friends or anything. Like she said, just because she and Edward were friends didn't mean that we had to be friends.

Edward laughed and leaned forward. His hand slid around my neck and he pulled me towards him. I pushed all thoughts of Alice from my mind and met him halfway. My mind went blank as it always did when Edward and I kissed. He was a good kisser and soon I didn't even know who Alice was.

Soon after Edward took me back home. He didn't drive as fast as he usually did and for that I was thankful. He escorted me to my door like he always did, he was always so predictable. He always sort of was old fashioned.

"Sweet dreams." He said as we reached my door. I grabbed his jacket and pulled him towards me for a breath kiss. "I love you babe." He said hoarsely.

"I love you too." I replied and unlocked the door slipping into the house quietly.

Charlie was asleep, so I crept to my room careful not to wake him. As I lay in bed I couldn't stop thinking about the brief conversation I had with Alice.

I felt a little ashamed about my actions. Maybe I just should have changed the subject like she wanted me to. I mean why did I have to drop that hint? I was responsible for her sudden reaction. It is only right to apologize for it.

Maybe I'll see her again before school started. The school holidays was almost over, so chances are I might run into her at Edward's place again. I can try to talk things over then and if I didn't run into her again I could always just talk to her at school.

It would be interesting to see how she is accepted back among the students. Rumor or no rumor, being a new student is never easy even if you were a student from that school before.

**~ . ~**

Edward was snoring softly next to me. Our naked bodies intertwined. I was staring at the way his muscular chest moved up and down while he breathed. I could feel his heart beat under my hand. Carlisle and Esme was out for the day and Edward and I took advantage of his home alone status.

Edward was very good in bed. He was just so predictable. Always taking things slow and touching me as if I was a porcelain doll that would break if he used to much force or something. Don't get me wrong, I like sex with Edward. Sometimes I just wished that he wasn't so…..so boring in bed.

"What are you thinking about?" Edward asked placing a kiss on my head.

"Sex." I said trailing a finger down his stomach. His stomach muscles quivered under my touch. I trailed my finger further down and he hissed when I took him in my hand.

"Did I ever mention that you have a dirty mind?" He breathed out. I started moving my hand up and down his shaft and his breathing became ragged.

"Do you want me to stop?" I teased nipping his chin.

He groaned and pushed against my shoulders pushing me on my back. He leaned over me, his erection pressing against me thigh.

He leaned down and kissed me. His hand slid up to cup my breast, his thumb flicking my erect nipple. My back arched into him and he smiled against my mouth. I ran my hands down his back, digging my nails into him. He hissed. His other hand caressed the inside of my thigh before he parted my legs settling between my thighs.

"Edward…" I moaned as I lifted my hips slightly when I felt him at my opening.

Suddenly his door opened. "Edward, are you in…." Edward and I jumped apart slightly and he quickly pulled the bed sheets up to cover us.

Alice stood in the doorway, her mouth hanging open. Her eyes jumped from Edward face to my own.

"Alice!" Edward breathed. She shook her head suddenly a faint pink blush creeping up her neck.

"I'm so sorry. Esme said you were home alone so I thought I would come over and….."

"Alice maybe you should give us a minute. " Edward said. I felt how my cheeks warmed and I knew I resembled a tomato by now.

"Oh right." And with that she closed the door.

"Fuck my life." I said under my breath.

"It could have been worse." Edward said. He pushed the covers away and started looking for his clothes.

"How could it have been worse?" I asked exasperated as I pulled on my underwear.

"Well it could have been my parents." By now he was dressed. His bronze hair looked a little disheveled.

"Fuck. My. Life." I mumbled as I pulled my shirt on. "How am I supposed to look her in the face now? I haven't even apologized yet for upsetting her and now she walks in on us during sex."

"Yeah, talk about the ultimate buzz kill." We looked at each other. There was a moment of silence and then a giggle past my lips. He chuckled and soon after we were both laughing.

When we calmed down he took my hand and we walked out of his room making our way through the house looking for Alice. We finally found her watching TV in the living room. We sat down, Edward placed his arm around my shoulders and I snuggled into his side.

Alice looked in our direction. I couldn't place the emotion that briefly crossed her face. When our eyes met she looked back at the TV. She blushed again. It was silent in the room accept for the sound from the TV.

"Are we going to talk about it?" She asked in a small voice.

"No." I said firmly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Edward said.

"Ok then." She said sounding normal again.

"Ok then." Edward and I said together and we smiled at each other. Out of my peripherals I saw that Alice was looking at us. I looked at her and she looked away quickly, again.

She changed the channel to one where a movie was just starting. It was a comedy and soon the dense atmosphere changed to a casual one. We made jokes about the actors and laughed together.

"Some popcorn would be great, don't you think Bella?" Edward asked bumping my shoulder playfully.

"I'll go make us some." I said and got up heading for the kitchen.

"I'll help you." Alice said and before I could protest she followed me out of the living room.

For the first time I noticed what she was wearing. She was dresses in dark blue skinny jeans, a white v-neck shirt and boots that ended just beneath her knees. All of it was designer clothing. Wow, she had expensive taste. But it looked so good on her. Somehow my eyes ended up on her butt, her perfect butt I might add.

Ok, just hold the fuck up. Since when did I think that a girls butt was perfect? I huffed in annoyance and as soon as we where in the kitchen I started making the popcorn without even looking at her.

"Bella are you ok? You seem tense?" Alice asked touching my shoulder softly. Tingles spread over the area and I dropped the pot in surprise.

"Oh crap." I mumbled bending to pick up the pot but so did Alice and we bumped our heads together accidentally.

"I'm sorry." Both of us said at the same time. I looked at her. She was rubbing the front of her head.

"No really it is my fault, I'm such a klutz. Did I hurt you?" I said grabbing the pot from the ground and then holding my hand out towards her to help her to her feet. She slid her hand into mine and I ignored the tingles as I helped her up.

"I'm ok Bella, it's nothing." I nodded and started making the popcorn. Now we just had to wait for the popcorn to start jumping.

Alice stretched to take down a glass from the top shelf and her shirt lifted a bit displaying some pale skin. I could see that her stomach was very well toned. Suddenly I had to force myself to swallow.

"Do you want something to drink?" I forced myself to look away. Seriously, why was she having this effect on me?

"I…uh….y- yes please." I stuttered.

She poured some juice and handed my glass to me, she barely held the glass by her finger tips and she was extra careful that our hands didn't touch when I took the glass from her.

I gulped down the juice. The popcorn began to jump and I figured that this was probably the best time to apologize to her for the last time we were here.

"Uh, Alice." She looked at me, her blue eyes focused fully on me.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry if I said anything that offended you, in our last conversation. I didn't want to upset you." I said honestly and she smiled.

"You didn't have to apologize. I was the one who over reacted. I didn't mean to yell at you like that." I smiled back at her. "Nor did I mean to walk in on you and Edward this afternoon. I'm really, really sorry for that." She hung her head, probably trying to hide how ashamed she felt.

"We probably should have locked the door. Really, Edward and I are just happy that it was you and not his parents that walked in on us."

She looked up and we both chuckled.

"That would have been a disaster."

"A naked disaster." I agreed and we laughed at that.

We finished the popcorn and headed back to the living room. I was glad that I sorted things out with her. It might take some time before I could forget her walking in on me in one of my most vulnerable moments but I think that the one in dire need of the mental bleach was Alice.

"It took you girls long enough." Edward commented as I sat down next to him, I smiled and gave him a quick kiss.

"You could have made your own." I said snuggling into his side. He just grunted and ate away. Alice and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes before trying to pick up the storyline for the movie again.

**~.~**

Later that night as I crawled into my bed I briefly wondered why I acted so strangely around Alice. I mean I never stutter, or mumble or forget parts of conversations. And I have never admired another girl's body before. Maybe it was just because we are totally different. Like north and south. Maybe that was what I noticed.

I mean it was totally normal to notice the differences between other people and yourself. It's normal to compare. Plus with a quirky personality like hers it wasn't easy to ignore her. She just wasn't a person that you could ignore. Unlike me, she was totally noticeable.

Satisfied with my revelation I closed my eyes and succumbed to unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**An: Thank you for those who reviewed. I appreciate the feedback a lot. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.**

**Chapter 2**

My head felt like it wanted to explode. I did not sleep well at all. I woke from a nightmare about two hours after I fell asleep last night. After that, it was as if I couldn't turn of my brain. Naturally, when I finally did fall asleep again, my alarm blares like a proud rooster next to me. I fumbled for the alarm and only managed to silence it after my fourth attempt. Leave it to me to wakeup with a headache on the first day of school. I sighed and got out of bed and sauntered into my bathroom. Maybe a shower will help chase away the cobwebs in my brain.

I did feel a little better after my shower. Without caring, I grabbed some jeans, a long sleeved shirt and a sweater from my closet. I dressed mechanically thinking about how it was finally my last year at school. I dragged a comb through my hair and tied it in my neck before heading downstairs.

A strange smell lingered downstairs and as I neared the kitchen, it got a lot more potent. I heard cursing. Why was Charlie still here? Usually he was at the station by this time. I retorted to breathing through my mouth as I entered the kitchen and spotted Charlie in front of the stove. He was stirring something that resembled road kill in a pan.

"What died?" I asked from the doorway not daring to go in any further. That smell could very well kill someone.

He jumped slightly and then a light blush crept up in his neck. "Bella! Great, I wanted to have these done by the time you came downstairs."

"These?" I asked wearily, standing up on my toes to try and make out what 'these' actually were.

"It's eggs and bacon of course." He answered enthusiastically showing me the contents of the pan. It did not even remotely resemble bacon or eggs.

"Of course." I commented sarcastically. "Maybe you should have tried two different pans? Eggs and bacon go well together but they don't mix together."

He looked down at the pan and then smiled sheepishly at me. I sighed and walked over to him. "Why are you trying to stink up the house in anyway?" I asked as I scraped the contents if the pan in the bin.

The 'food' didn't want to budge from the pan so I gave up altogether and dropped the whole thing in the bin. I opened the windows and to get rid of some of the stink. All the while, my headache was still pounding away.

"I wanted to make your first day of senior year special." He mumbled and his cheeks turned pink. This was real unfamiliar territory for my quiet father. "I feel like I leave you alone too much, so I thought that maybe this would…." I placed my hand on his arm.

"Thanks dad. I appreciate the thought but let's leave the cooking to me in the future." I interrupted him and he nodded and looked down on me.

He frowned. "Bells are you ok? You look tired."

"Why to go chief. We've been in the same room for almost ten minutes and you only now noticed that I'm still tired. Some policeman you are." I teased him.

He scoffed. "Very funny, Bella. You get something to eat and I'll make some coffee." He pushed me towards the cupboards lightly.

"You do know how to make coffee right?" I joked.

"I'm a police officer, knowing how to make coffee is part of my job."

I smiled. "And knowing which bakery makes the best donuts comes with that job, right?"

He nodded smiling. "That would be the small bakery run by the Black family in La Push."

I smiled shaking my head. I grabbed some cereal and poured some of it into a bowl, added some milk and after hoisting myself onto the counter, I ate hungrily. A comfortable silence rested between us as Charlie made the coffee and I ate my breakfast. Charlie wasn't much of a talker and neither was I. It was about the only thing we had in common.

He placed a cup of coffee next to me and I nodded a thank you as I chewed away on my cereal.

"How did you grow up so fast?" He asked suddenly. "Just the other day I was walking around with you on my shoulders and now you are in your senior year."

"Dad, are we really going to do the sentimental thing? Because I would much rather do it on graduation day." I mumbled not really in the mood to deal with a trip down memory lane. It usually ended up with my father getting all blurry eyed and we would give each other an awkward one-armed hug. I really wasn't in the mood for that.

"Rain check?"

"Rain check." I confirmed and he nodded seeming somehow relieved.

I finished my breakfast and he left for work soon after. Charlie can be a little weird sometimes.

**~.~**

I was cradling my head in my hands. Everyone was excitedly talking, trying to here the latest gossip. I hated the fact that I couldn't take painkillers. It made me sleepy. Therefore, when I developed a headache on a school day, I had to suffer through it.

I could hear Lauren telling Jessica about her summer fling and I groaned. Hearing how she gave some super hot Italian guy head, was not helping my fucking headache at all. Where was the teacher when you actually needed him? And why did they have to sit right in front of me?

I was seated why in the back, I hated math and there was no way I was going to sit anywhere remotely close to the front of the class. Our teacher always called on the kids in the front. He was just so old that he couldn't see who was seated in the back row.

The class suddenly fell silently. Finally, I looked up expecting to see the teacher but instead I looked straight at Alice. This was the first class of the day so nobody could have gossiped about her return just yet. Everything became a little fuzzy. She was scanning over the class looking for a place to sit when she spotted me. She smiled and waved. A warm feeling spread through my stomach. I could not help but smile back at her. She began making her way over.

"This place hasn't changed at all. Is this seat taken?" She asked nodding slightly towards the empty seat with her head. She ignored all the students that were staring at her.

"No it's not." I said and she smiled sliding into the seat gracefully.

"Great." She looked over the class again. Some students looked away when she made eye contact with them while others just kept staring in our direction. Fucking rude much?

"Just ignore them Alice. They are staring at me." I flipped my hair and made a little fish pout. "I'm simply gorgeous."

She laughed and a pleasant feeling danced down my spine. She leaned forward slightly exposing her cleavage a little. My mouth ran dry and I looked away. What the fuck? It was not as if she was exposing almost all of her boobs like Jessica. She was wearing a light blue v-neck shirt with a leather jacket. There was barely any cleavage visible. Both Jessica and Lauren had plenty of cleavage to go around and I never had a reaction to it.

"How was the rest of your evening?" I forced myself to look at her face and saw that she was staring at me quizzically. Did she ask me something?

"Huh, what?" I inquired.

She chuckled. "I asked how the rest of your evening was." Her eyes sparkled reminding me of the ocean at sunset.

"Oh…it….boring…I mean, it was boring." I stuttered. She smiled softly obviously finding something amusing.

The teacher finally walked in and everyone looked to the front of the class. I could see them whispering.

"Is he still teaching here? He's was like a dinosaur two years ago." Alice mumbled next to me and I had to suppress a giggle.

"I guess that makes him a fossil now." I commented and we both giggled. He looked in our direction, squinted slightly but because he was, half-blind he couldn't really tell what was going on back here. He turned to the board and Alice and I looked at each other rolling our eyes at the same time.

He wrote the date and then turned back to the class clearing his throat. "Alright we are going to have a little pop quiz. Let's see how much you dunderheads forgot over the holiday." The whole class groaned as he handed a small stack of papers to the kids in the front row and after they took one they handed it to the person behind them.

As I took the paper from the kid in front of me, I noticed how Alice was searching for something. She huffed in annoyance. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my extra pencil holding it out towards her.

She looked at me and smiled. "Thanks." Her fingers touched mine as she took the pencil and a spurt of tingles rushed through my hand. It was such a surprise that my knee jerked and hit the desk.

Everyone's head snapped in our direction but when they saw me blushing, they just rolled their eyes. All of them knew how clumsy I was.

"Does everyone have a paper? Ok good, you may begin." As I concentrated on the quiz, my headache reminded me just how much I hated fucking math.

When the final student handed in his quiz, we were allowed to talk amongst ourselves.

"Bella are you ok?" Alice asked softly turning sideways in her seat, her full attention on me.

"Yeah, I just have a headache. I didn't get much sleep last night." I said as I packed away my things.

"Did Edward sneak into your house?" I blushed remembering briefly how she walked in on us yesterday.

"No, he is too much of a gentleman to do that. Moreover, my father is the Chief of police. He would probably kill Edward if he ever caught him sneaking in." She chuckled.

"Some things are worth the risk." She commented and I frowned. What was that supposed to mean? "Talking about risk, are you two being safe? An unplanned pregnancy is not something you two would want to deal with at this time of your lives." I blushed even more. I was not used to talking about anything sex related as if I was discussing the weather.

"Are you talking out of experience Alice?" Lauren asked suddenly.

I looked at her. Who the fuck does that? Asking a question like that just out in the open where everyone can hear. Alice stared at her all signs of being sweat and kind where gone.

"I see you are still poking your fake nose into places it doesn't belong, Lauren." Lauren stared at Alice as if she was a bug, a bug that needed to be exterminated quickly.

"At least I don't go to fake boarding schools." She countered and with a huff, she turned in her seat whispering seriously with Jessica.

"Are you going to answer my question?" Alice asked me with a smile as if she never had any words with Lauren.

"Huh, what question?" I asked confused.

"Are you and Edward being safe?"

I blushed again. "Yeah, my mother insisted that I take birth control pills since Edward and I started dating. Even though we only started….uh you know….." I fumbled with my pencil, blushing heavily.

"Having sex." She suggested with a teasing smile.

"Uh yeah…. That…. for the last two months or so." She nodded and for a brief few seconds an emotion I couldn't place danced in her eyes. The bell rang suddenly.

"Well I'll see you later Bella." I nodded as we joined the rest of the students exiting the class.

**~.~**

Edward and I was busy exiting the English class. Our fingers where intertwined and he was leading the way to the cafeteria. All morning I had to listen to gossip about Alice. We only shared the first and last two classes together so I haven't seen her since this morning. Everyone was convinced she went to Europe to have a baby and she gave it up for adoption. People are so fucked up sometimes.

"I'm telling you. Give me just one night with her. I will tame her. I'll make her purr like a kitten. I don't care how many kids she had, she is freaking hot." Mike Newton said to Eric.

"Mike, that's not right man. We don't even know why she went to Europe. That's her business in anyway." Eric said.

"Oh you are such a pussy. Are you telling me that if you had half the chance with Alice that you wouldn't take it?"

I felt how Edward stiffened next to me. "All I'm saying is that it's her business what she did in Europe."

"Mike if I were you I would make myself scarce right about now." I said and his head snapped around. He took one look at Edward and did as I told him.

"Now who is the Pussy?" Eric mumbled. Then he looked at us apologetically. "I'm sorry. He should really learn to think before he speaks."

"You don't have to apologize for him Eric." Edward said as we entered the cafeteria. "Bella why don't you go save us a seat and I'll get us some food." Edward said and I nodded. Usually Edward and I would sit on our own or sometimes we would sit with Eric and Angela.

I glanced over the cafeteria. Jessica and Lauren was sitting at the nearest table flirting with brain dead football jocks. Whore much? Then it was a sea of other students. I searched among the sea of faces for any sign of spiky black hair. Alice was seated at a table all alone. She played with the salad in front of her. Her shoulders was slightly hunched over. Where was her smile? She was supposed to be smiling.

I walked over to her table. Everyone looked at me. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?" I asked loudly making sure I was focusing a lot of attention on myself.

"What are you doing?" She asked frowning slightly.

"Sitting, duh." I deadpanned making myself comfortable in the hard plastic chair.

"But why?"

"Because standing and eating is unhealthy or so my mother tells me in anyway."

"Why are you sitting with me? The outcast. The one that supposedly got pregnant and gave her baby up for adoption. You are committing social suicide." Her voice wavered and it tore at my heart.

"Does it look like I care about my social status?" I asked lifting an eyebrow. "Besides you are my friend and friends eat lunch together, no?"

"Bella you don't have to do this. I can take care of myself. I tie my own shoelaces and everything."

I snorted. "Alice I don't know you that well, but something tells me that you don't own shoes with shoelaces."

She sighed and looked at me. A small smile was playing around her delicate mouth. "I thought that just because Edward and I were friends it didn't mean that you and I had to be friends."

I placed my hand on hers as a comforting gesture and tingles swam up my arm. I almost sighed in content. "Don't you want to be my friend?" I asked and she hesitated, just for a second.

"Of course I do Bella." She smiled at me and removed her hand from beneath mine. My hand felt cold but I could only ponder the feeling for a moment as Edward sat down next to me and to my surprise, Angela and Eric sat down next to him.

"Here you go love." Edward said pushing a tray of food in front of me. Then he leaned forward kissing me quickly. I smiled at him before eating my food.

Alice's mood seamed to be better at the end of lunch. People still whispered in the hallways and during class. People still stared at her, but she kept her head high as she walked from class to class. In the classes, we had together people tended to stare a little less. I sighed when the final bell rang.

"How is your headache?" Alice asked as we walked to the parking lot. The hallway was deserted, Alice had to make a quick pit stop at the secretary's office and I had walked with her.

"Still hammering away at my head." I replied. She was about to say something when I suddenly slipped.

I would have hit the floor but a small strong arm wound around my waist and I was pulled against Alice's side. Waves of tingles washed through me but I was too shocked from almost falling to do something about it. Alice let go of me unexpectedly and I stumbled slightly.

"Are you ok?" She whispered, her breathing a little erratic.

"Yes, thanks to you. Leave it to me to trip over my own feet." We stared at each other. I could still remember those tingles that burst through me. I wanted to be closer to her. I wanted to feel those tingles again.

The air felt thick around us. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. I stepped closer and was about to touch her shoulder when she opened her eyes. "I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow ok?" She didn't wait for a reply as she walked down the corridor and disappeared out of the door quickly,

I frowned and dropped my hand that was still in the air. What the fuck was up with that girl? I cursed my clumsiness and walked to the parking lot. Edward was leaning against his car waiting for me.

"Hey Babe. Did you have to stay after class or something?" He asked opening the door for me.

"No I had a quick errand with Alice. Sorry for making you wait so long." I apologized and he shrugged.

"It was nothing. Alice just left. She seemed in a hurry." He said as he closed the door.

I waited for him to join me in the car. "Did she seem ok to you?"

"Yes, she had a long day but she smiled and waved before leaving so everything seemed fine." I nodded. So why did she just storm out like that? "Is everything ok, Bella?" He asked glancing at me before focusing back on the road.

"I just have a headache." I said absentmindedly. He took my hand and brought it to his lips kissing each of my knuckles.

We stopped at my house sooner than I expected. Or maybe it was because I was so focused on figuring out what spooked Alice that I didn't notice how fast Edward was driving.

"Since we don't have homework do you want me to come in?" Normally I would have said yes right away. Charlie never came home early. Edward and I always took advantage of that but, today I found myself hesitating.

"Not today, Edward. I haven't slept well last night and I'm just going to take a nap. Hopefully I'll feel better by the time I have to make Charlie some dinner." I said and he waggled his eyebrows at me.

"I can always join you in that nap." I leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss.

"I'm not really in the mood for that, Edward." He sighed and made a sad face.

"Fine, I understand. Call me later tonight?" I nodded as I opened the door. "Love you."

"Love you too. Drive safely." I said. He pulled away as soon as I closed the door. I walked to my house, unlocked the door, walked up the stairs and fell onto my bed. I pushed all thoughts from my mind. Basically, I pushed all thoughts of Alice from my mind. After what felt like forever, I finally fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. If I did, Edward and Jacob would never exist or I would have killed them off a long time ago. **

**A/n thank you to everyone who reviewed. Your feedback is appreciated a lot. **

**Chapter 3**

It's been a month. It's been a month since Alice came back to Forks. It has only been one month since she entered my life but I can't seem to think of a time when she was not part of my life.

Things were still a little strange. In parts of our conversations, she would sometimes shake her head slightly. Or she would close her eyes taking a deep breathe, as if she was in pain and had to force herself to breathe. Sometimes she would just leave suddenly. Saying she had forgotten something or that she remembered something that she promised someone that she would do.

This someone might be dead or imaginary because he/she/it is most definitely invisible or a ghost. Either way, I have never met the someone's she always referred to.

No one seemed to notice this about her. I have even considered that I might be imagining things. It wouldn't be the first time. I tended to daydream a lot in class. Edward says that Alice was always a little weird and that I shouldn't worry about it.

But weird does not explain the tingles I feel whenever we made some form of physical contact. Weird does not explain the effect she has on me. I still stutter around her. I can't seem to remember certain parts of a conversation when she is around. And, I am more than certain that a normal friendship does not involve someone constantly thinking about their friend.

For the life of me, I still can't figure it out. If she were a guy, I would say that it was a crush but SHE is not a guy. I for one was certainly not gay. I mean I like penis. I am a huge fan of penis. I am a huge fan of Edward's penis. I loved Edward. I was in love with Edward. The more and more I repeat this the more it seems as a way to convince myself of these facts.

Still I haven't spent as much time with Edward as I used to. Lately Edward did some stuff that irritated me. He was controlling and a little possessive. Two things I hated most in a relationship. That was no excuse for why we haven't been out on our own this month. Alice or some other friend is always with us.

The lunch bell suddenly rang and shook me out of my reverie. "Hey Bella you are friends with Alice right?" Adrian suddenly asked as I crammed my things into my school bag.

"Why?" I asked glancing at him quickly. He was cute I guess, he had the surfer look going for him. Blonde hair, a nice pair of baby blue eyes and an athletic built. I knew that most girls had a crush on him. Some even said that after Edward he was the hottest guy in school.

"I just wondered if she…." He looked uncertain all of a sudden and then smiled shyly. "Had a boyfriend." He whispered the last part of the sentence. I stopped what I was doing briefly as my heart skipped a few beats.

_What was that reaction just now? _

I swung my bag over my shoulder turning to face him. He looked at me, his cheeks a little red but a glint of hope shining in his eyes. He and Alice would make a nice couple. The black haired beauty with the gorgeous blonde hunk, I could just picture it now. They would walk hand in hand at school. Going out on dates and then she would tell me all about their perfect first kiss.

Suddenly I felt sick. I wanted to squish his hope with a sharp comment like, "You wouldn't even stand a chance."

_What the fuck? Why was the mere thought of some guy and Alice making me all jealous?_

"Uh, no she doesn't." I replied quickly before I could really be a bitch. He smiled and seemed a little relieved.

"Great." He said and looking all giddy, he walked away.

I walked to the cafeteria slowly. What the fuck was going on with me? I was still trying to figure out why I had such a strong reaction to Adrian's question that I blinked in surprise when I entered the cafeteria.

I picked some random sandwich and a can of soda and made my way over to my friends. The other students still ignored Alice's table but that gave us some privacy. Some students still treated her like the plague while others talked to her and started treating her just like any other student. Angela, Eric, Edward and Alice seemed to be in deep discussion about something. They barely even noticed as I sat down.

"All I'm saying is that there is nothing wrong with a girl crush." Angela said as Edward gave me a quick kiss. As he pulled away, I noticed that Alice was finding something on her plate very interesting.

Then it dawned on me what the topic of discussion was. "Girl crush?" I asked to no one in particular.

"Yes, you know that one person you would cross the line for. It doesn't make you gay or anything." Angela informed me.

_But, that would make you bisexual, right? _

"I think that it is hot. There is absolutely nothing wrong with girl on girl action. You know what I'm talking about, right Edward?" Eric said and he and Edward gave each other a high-five, grinning like idiots. Ugh, men! I would never understand their strange fantasies.

"Can you act like mature men for once?" I asked and they just looked at me.

"Mature men? What is that?" Eric asked Edward who just shrugged

"Don't know. I heard they went extinct a long time ago. Or maybe they are a myth like Big Foot or the Yeti." Edward said as if thinking aloud.

"So who is your girl crush Bella?" Angela asked me ignoring Edward and Eric completely. I almost choked on my soda.

"What?"

"Oh come on Bella. I won't feel insulted or anything." Edward said placing his hand on my thigh. If it was supposed to make me feel better, it didn't.

"Yeah, Angela already confessed that she would totally go down on Megan Fox." Eric said waggling his eyebrows at Angela.

_Go down on? Men could always make something like sex sound so dirty. _"I didn't say it exactly like that." Angela said blushing slightly.

"And Alice said that she wouldn't mind spending the night with Olivia Wild." Edward said bumping her shoulder with his.

"I so totally wouldn't mind. She is hot." Alice said without even blinking. I had a brief flash of Alice and Olivia Wild together and that brief jealous feeling fluttered in my chess again. As if she could feel my eyes on her, she looked in my direction and our eyes met. Her blue eyes reminded me of diamonds today. They sparkled and seemed like to reflect my inner soul.

"So Bella, who would you cross the line for?" Edward asked breaking the moment between Alice and me. She cocked one of her perfect eyebrows, waiting for me to answer. Suddenly I felt like I was on a game show and this was the million dollar question.

"I don't know, Miley Cyrus maybe." I said choosing the first person that jumped into my head. Actually, I named the second person. For just a split second Alice's face swam before my eyes before I thought about Miley Cyrus. Whatever the fuck, that meant. My cheeks warmed and I knew that I was blushing. Alice was chuckling softly.

"What is so funny Alice?" I asked glaring at her.

"Nothing, you just looked so innocent that is all." She said, her eyes sparkling with amusement. She was a freaking tease.

"Well, Bella is not innocent. I can vouch for that." Edward said giving me thigh a squeeze.

_Will you stop with the thigh squeezing already? _

"Oh I don't need a reminder." Alice joked winking at me. I just glared at her. Suddenly I saw Adrian walking to our table. Motherfucker, was he really going to ask her out on a date?

He looked very nervous. He stopped next to the table and nervously cleared his throat.

"Uh, Alice." She looked at him and gave him one of her dimply smiles. I saw how his eyes widened and how he forced himself to swallow and look at her eyes.

"Yes." Alice said and my stomach fell slightly. Was Alice into him?

"I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go watch a movie with me this Saturday." He said giving her a pearly white smile. I knew that his smile made most girls swoon and sigh. And who could blame them. With a smile like that, he could do toothpaste commercials. How do you say no to someone like that?

_Why do I want her to say no? Ugh, she is fucking hot. Guys will ask her out on dates. What do I fucking care in anyway? _

"Sorry Adrian, you are really not my type." Alice said touching his arm lightly. I wondered briefly if he felt tingles when she touched him.

"Uh, ok then." He mumbled and sulked away. I sighed in relief although I didn't quite know why.

"We better get to class soon. The bell is going to ring anytime now." Angela said as she and Eric stood up and walked away hand in hand.

"I'll see you after school." Edward said leaning over to kiss me. I was only expecting a light kiss so when he passionately kissed me he completely took me by surprise. Alice's chair scraped on the linoleum and he pulled away, winking at me.

"I would like to see Miley Cyrus do that." He chuckled at his own joke as he walked of to class.

He knew I hated couples that had heavy make-out sessions at school. It was just disgusting to look at. I looked around for Alice but couldn't find her anywhere. I shrugged. We had the last two classes together. She probably just headed there already.

**~.~**

Alice was already sitting at her desk when I arrived at the class. Because these seats were assigned, we didn't sit next to each other. She looked up at me as I walked passed her and she gave me a wink. A warm tingle spread down my spine. Paying attention in class was harder than usual. Did I have a girl crush on Alice? Does that mean that all these strange feelings will go away? Was I just imagining things? Was I crazy?

When the bell finally rang, Alice waited for me just outside the classroom. We walked to the art classroom in silence. Even though we hurried to class, we were the last ones to arrive so we sat down quickly at our joined desk.

Mr. Clark was our art teacher and he was by far my favorite teacher. He did not mind if we talked during class as long as we did our work and kept the noise level to a minimum.

"Right, today we are going to work in pairs. You are going to ask each other five questions. Anything goes."

"Seriously?" Heath interrupted him.

"Yes when you are done, I want you to draw something that best describes your partner. For example, I like walking outdoors, I love dogs and I've never been drunk. So the picture my partner would have drawn would be something like, me walking a dog in the park with a warning sign of no alcohol allowed…." The class giggled. "Or something like that. So you get the picture." We laughed again at his stupid pun. "So what are you waiting for?"

Alice and I looked at each other. "Do you want to go first?" I asked and she shrugged.

"Ok. One, what is your worst pet peeve?" She asked. Leave it to Alice to start with the most random question ever.

"People that talk while they eat." She nodded as if in agreement. "What is your favorite past time?"

"You know the answer to this silly…..I love fashion. Designing it, wearing it or buying it." I smiled. I did know that. "Two, why don't you have pets?"

"I had a pet once, a gold fish. He died. I had to flush him down the toilette. It was really tragic. I never recovered." Alice giggled. "What is your dream destination?"

"Oh Greece. I would love to spend a year in Greece." Alice smiled, her eyes glazed over as she imagined herself doing something in Greece. "Why a year?"

"Nuh uh, it's my turn to ask the question now." She chastised making a stern face, some emotion rushed through me. Excitement maybe? She gave in and answered my question in anyway. "I want to see it in all the seasons of the year." Well that did make sense. But, it was not the answer I was expecting. "Three, Do you have any hidden talents?"

"I did ballet once. It was a disaster. The other students were more relieved that I stopped than I was."

Alice shook her head slightly. "I can't believe you actually did ballet."

I shrugged. "Ok, moving on. What are you secretly addicted to?" She whispered something that sounded like tingles. "What was that?"

"Pringles. I have a weak spot for Pringles." Alice said in a rush looking a little relieved for some reason.

_See Bella only Pringles. Not tingles. Moron._

"Four, what is your greatest fear?" Alice asked before I could linger on her answer.

"Loosing someone I love." I answered without hesitating. I hesitated slightly before asking my next question but then decided I might as well ask. "Would you rather risk and love or not love at all?"

She bit her lower lip again. I had to force myself to look away from her luscious lips. "Not love at all." I finally tore my eyes away from her lips only to be sucked into her ocean blue eyes.

"W…..why?" I mumbled.

"Because, love is not always black and white. There are major shades of grey in-between." She said looking down at her hands avoiding my eyes.

She looked so sad that I instinctively reached out and touched her hand. I knew that tingles were going to spread up my hand to the rest of my arm. Yet I still let out a silent sigh of contentment when they did. Alice slid her hand from beneath mine. Instantly my hand felt colder and empty.

"Five, would you ever cheat on Edward, if you felt something for someone else?" Her question took me by surprise. Why would she ask me something like that?

"No. You might not be able to control your emotions but you can control your actions. And I would like to think that if I ever felt something for someone else then I would break things of with Edward first. It is just the right thing to do." I answered hoping that I won't go against this one day.

"What is the hardest thing you ever had to do?" I asked changing the subject away from love. Alice looked at her hands. She bit her bottom lip and I had to suppress a moan.

_Ok my reactions were getting crazier than before. Why can't I just act like a normal fucking human being around her?_

She was quiet for a few seconds and then she looked at me with half a smile. "Watch the person I have feelings for love someone else."

She had feelings for someone. "Alice, you like someone?"

"Sorry but your questions are all done. Now we have to draw." She deadpanned.

I sighed and bumped her shoulder playfully ignoring the tingles. "Ok I'm going to change the subject."

She smiled at me. "I've taught you well."

**~.~**

Edward and I stopped in front of Alice's house a week later. We were going to watch a movie. Edward asked one of his friends, Jasper to tag along. He was hoping that Alice would feel less like a third wheel. Not that Alice would say anything but, she had become noticeably more drawn back over the last few weeks.

We never talked about her answer to my last question in the art room. I trusted that she would tell me when she thought the time was right. "Babe, would you go get Alice please?" Edward asked and I nodded getting out of the car.

I knocked on her door and her mother opened it. "You must be Bella. Alice had told me so much about you." She was about as tall as I was and looked like an older version of Alice.

I smiled at her. "Only good things I hope."

"Of course. Alice is in the music room. It's just down the hall, second door on your right." I thanked her mother and headed the way she indicated.

As I neared the room, I heard the piano and a soft angelic voice. When I opened the door, I froze. Alice was playing on the piano. Her eyes were closed and she looked so serene I could barely breathe. I had never seen something so beautiful in my life.

"Oh, heart, I hear you beating

But their heart just ain't beating like you

Oh, heart, you gotta watch out now

Or else it's gonna break you in two

Oh, heart, you better believe me

Save yourself for somebody new

Don't make such a fuss, there's no hope for us

Their heart don't care the way that you do

Oh, heart, please stop your pounding

Don't settle yourself for something that's wrong

Oh, heart, now don't let it hear you

Come on now, you gotta be strong

Oh, heart, you better believe me

Save yourself for somebody new

Don't make such a fuss, there's no hope for us

It don't care the way that you do

Let me tell you now, heart

I'm going crazy

Can you hear a word that I say

Oh, heart,

It doesn't want you

There's no use in acting this way

Yes, I'm telling you, heart

You better believe me

Save yourself for somebody new

Don't make such a fuss, there's no hope for us

They don't care the way that you do."

Alice voice carried through the room and it was filled with longing and sadness as if she lost the most important thing to her in the entire world. Suddenly the music stopped and we looked at each other. I smiled at her and when she returned my smile, I walked over sitting down on the bench next to her.

"That was beautiful." I said silently afraid I might spoil the mood.

"Thank you." She replied sincerely.

"Did you write it?" She nodded. "Well whoever you wrote it for is a very lucky person." She opened her mouth to say something. Then she closed it just as quickly. She was silent for a few moments. She tilted her head and rested in on my shoulder. A warm feeling spread through my body and I could smell her shampoo, it smelled like something fruity.

"Actually the person I wrote this for is not lucky at all." She said not moving her head from me shoulder.

"He must be." I said more to myself than to her.

"Why?" She asked pulling away to look at me. I turned to face her and when I saw how close our faces were to each other, I froze. I could practically count her eyelashes. I licked my lips nervously and her eyes darted downwards noticing the movement. She looked up again, right into my eyes.

_Was it just my imagination or did her glance on my lips last longer than it was supposed to?_

"He must be lucky, because he has your love." I said and she shook her head.

"Bella, there is no he." I frowned, leaning slightly forward.

_I must be in her personal space. I mean my nose was almost touching hers. Why isn't she saying anything? Why am I not pulling back?_

"There isn't?" I asked stupidly.

"No, it's a…." Suddenly a car's horn went of, making both of us jump.

"Oh crap Edward is waiting for us." I said standing up. How could I have forgotten about him? He was like right outside.

"Edward, always Edward." She mumbled as she stood to follow me. What was that supposed to mean? Edward was like her best friend. Why would she say something like that?

"And Jasper too, I suppose." I said ignoring her comment for now. She frowned but didn't ask too much questions as she grabbed her purse. She called goodbye to her parents and then closed the door behind her.

"Who is Jasper?" She asked squinting at the car.

"Jasper is kind of your date for the evening?" I said as we finally reached the car and before she could kill me, I slid into my seat.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. **

**A/n Thank you everyone that reviewed, as always your feedback is appreciated a lot. **

**Chapter 4**

"It was a disaster! What were you thinking Edward?" I asked as we cuddled on my bed. Charlie was working the night shift and wouldn't be home until much later.

"Oh it wasn't that bad." He said into my neck.

"Really? What about this night, wasn't that bad? The food or the movie perhaps?" I asked exasperated.

"Your company?" He suggested softly nuzzling my neck with his nose. "Or maybe this moment right here." He started trailing kisses down my neck.

"I'm serious Edward."

He groaned and pulled away. "Bella, this was their first date. Jasper even said like five sentences. That meant that he definitely liked her."

I snorted. "Hello. I'll have a plain burger and chips. The movie was ok. It was nice meeting you Alice. Goodbye. Is that the five sentences you are referring to?" I asked sarcastically.

"Ok, so maybe it didn't go so well. I don't know why though. I mean, Alice is hot..."

_Yes she is._

"...and I am yet to meet a person that doesn't like her right of the bat."

I sighed and snuggled against his side. "Just promise me that you won't try and match her up with anyone else." I said and he nodded kissing my neck.

"Fine I promise. I just felt sorry for her you know. I mean, when I invite her to do some stuff with us she always declines. And I can understand why. I mean I see how she always looks away when we kiss or do some random couple thing. Being a third wheel, kind of sucks."

He started sucking on my earlobe, his day old stubble ticking my neck. I waited for the shudder that usually ran down my spine when he did this but it never came.

_Huh? That was weird. _

"By the way did something happen between you two?" He asked trailing his hand up the side of my stomach.

I froze. Did he know about what happened at the piano? I wasn't even sure what happened exactly. All I knew was that I wanted to...no there is no why I could actually want to... but I was sure that I wanted to... point of the matter is there was this moment that I had with her that I never had with anyone else. Not even Edward.

"Are you ok Bella?"

_No I'm not. I wanted to kiss your best friend. There, I actually admitted it. I wanted to kiss Alice. I don't know why. All I know is in that moment I wanted to kiss her. Was Alice my girl crush?_

"Bella are you listening to me?" What? Oh crap, I missed parts of another conversation.

"Sorry what did you say Edward?" I asked shaking my head.

Edward frowned. It looked like he wanted to say something. He opened his mouth then closed it again. Then he opened it again only to close it. Then as if deciding something he finally spoke.

"Am I boring you? Because, if I am I can just leave."

_Oh here we go. Edward: the drama queen. _

"No you are not boring me. I must be more exhausted than I thought." I said faking a yawn.

He huffed. "Bella that has been happening a lot lately."

I sighed. "Well I am a busy girl Edward. Between school, you and my father I barely have time for myself."

_And I can't sleep at night because your best friend won't stay out of my head. _

I turned out of his embrace sitting up. "It's not like I have a mother that can help around the house. You know that Charlie is completely useless in that regard."

_Oh using the divorced card was stooping to an all-new low._

"Bella, I'm busy too. Yet somehow, I always seem to make time for you. Because I love you and don't mind spending time with you even though I feel tired sometimes." Edward quipped back making me feel even guiltier.

"What do you want me to say Edward? Tell me and I will happily say it to you." I almost shouted not impressed with his attitude.

"Communication, Bella. That is all I want. Tell me if I'm doing something wrong so that I can fix it. I just don't know what to do with you. I mean we don't have sex anymore." He silenced me with a flick of his hand when I wanted to say something. "I know a relationship isn't all about the sex but we used to do it frequently but we haven't done it since Alice walked in on us. So did I do something?"

_He wanted communication. Ok well I'm confused Edward. Alice confuses me, to a point where I can barely think straight. Do you have an answer to that? Yeah, me neither. Plus this is not your fault at all so I can't really give you the communication you want. _

I sighed. "I'm sorry Edward. It's been a long night. Maybe it is better if we called it a day. I'm sorry I zoned out like that. It wasn't your fault. Nothing is your fault. I promise to sort out whatever it is that has me so sidetracked."

"Whatever, Bella. Call me when my girlfriend decides to take back her body ok?" He didn't wait for a reply as he stormed out of the room. I heard the front door slam as he exited the house. I cringed as he revved his car before pulling away with screeching tires.

_Fuck my life. Maybe if I become a nun my life would be a lot less complicated. I bet nuns didn't lay awake at night thinking about their friend, their female friend. Whom, they want to kiss. Oh, don't forget that they could totally kiss their super hot boyfriend anytime they want. _

Like I said, fuck my life.

**~.~**

"Speak or forever hold your peace."

"You actually answer your phone like that?"

"Apparently."

"Ok..." I paused for affect so that she could know that I thought she was being weird. "How have you been Alice?"

"Fine. You?"

"Are you one-syllable-Sue?"

"Maybe."

"Ok."

"Where did you get my number Bella?"

"Look an entire sentence." I teased without actually answering her question. Truth is I asked my father to get it for me. Being chief of police had its advantages.

"Bite me." Came the sarcastic reply.

"Alice, are you ok?" She usually wasn't this cranky. I wasn't even sure Alice knew what cranky was.

"Fine." She replied obviously not fine at all. Immediate concern over took me. Did something happen? "Is there an actual reason for this call Bella?" She asked sounding distracted.

"Oh, yeah. I wanted to go watch a movie in Port Angeles and didn't want to go alone. Since Edward and I had that fight two weeks ago things still hasn't been the same so I wanted to know if maybe you wanted to go with me. It's totally ok if you don't. I mean if you have something better to do I totally understand." I kicked myself.

_Why was I doing nervous babble? Almost like a teenager that just hit puberty and was asking someone out on their first date. THIS WAS NOT A DATE!_

I heard her chuckle. "What is so funny?"

"You are. Or more specifically you and your nervous babble are."

"I was not nervous babbling."

"Yes you were. And don't worry I think it is cute." I blushed.

_Curse her for having this effect on me._

But even though I thought that, I smiled hearing Alice sound a little more like herself. "So uh, about that movie?"

"Oh, yeah...well thanks for the invite but I'm already doing something that weekend?"

"Planning world domination are we?"

"No that is next week."

I chuckled. "Seriously, you can't put aside a few hours for me or my nervous babble in your busy schedule?" I noted that I was pouting like a child and when I heard her laughing softly, I knew that she could totally hear it in my voice.

"Don't pout Bella. I'm afraid I can't. I would have preferred your wonderful company over that of books and schoolwork."

"Schoolwork? That is what I'm loosing to?"

"Afraid so.' There was a weird noise on the other side. Almost like a door banging.

"Baby, get your sexy ass down here! Right. Now." There was silence on the other side of the phone.

Jealousy made my blood boil. "I got to go." Her voice was icy and distant again.

"Alice, who are you talking to? One of your sluts?" The voice sounded closer now. There was no mistaken it. The voice was definitely female.

"Alice, who the fuck is talking to you like that?" I asked. No one was supposed to talk to her like that. I wanted to reach through the phone and protect her.

"Rosalie, calm down it is just a telemarketer." With that she disconnected the line. Rosalie? Who the fuck was Rosalie? And why was Alice talking so softly? The coldness from her voice long gone. Did she only reserve that for me?

I was worried. Something here was not right. We've been sort of friends for four months now and she has never mentioned a Rosalie to me. As far as I know she hasn't mentioned her to Edward either. But he was a really good friend and wouldn't have said anything even if she did.

Sighing I placed my phone and snuggled more comfortably into the couch. Some random movie was playing on the television. Charlie was at the office as always and Edward was still being a drama queen. But Queen Edward was far from my mind instead I worried about his best friend. Was she in some sort of trouble? Should I go over there to make sure that she is ok?

No. It was none of my business. She would have surely said something if she was in trouble. And I knew that she could take care of herself.

I sighed. I was so tired. "What is that couch? A nap? For me? You are so kind!" I smiled as I turned the TV station to MTV turning up the volume all the way. Maybe this way I won't be able to concentrate on anything else.

**~.~**

I was squirming in my movie seat uncomfortably. This is what happens when you just pick a random movie. Two girls were getting hot and heavy between the sheets. And it weren't creeping me out. Actually, it caused waves of desire to pool between my legs. The only reason for this was that for some reason I kept picturing Alice and myself doing the things these two girls were doing.

_I was really starting to loose my fucking mind. _

The couple, both females, next to me started making out. I could hear their soft moans. It was very dark in the Cinema accept for the light coming from the screen. And since it was fairly romantic scene there wasn't really much light in the cinema. Watching the sex scene, hearing the moans and the occasional "Oh God" next to me was making me feel something I haven't felt in a long while.

I felt how hot and wet I was becoming. All on its own accord, my hand slid down my stomach, unbuttoning the single button, pulling the zip down and...I froze.

_What the fuck was I doing?_

I pulled the zip up, buttoned my jeans and slipped out of the cinema. I ignored the groan from the couple as I squeezed past them.

_Get a room!_

Bright lights and fresh air-cooled my flushed skin. It was like breathing after you've held your breathe for to long. I spotted a McDonalds and headed in that direction. The throbbing between my thighs slowly disappeared as I walked.

Entering the restaurant, I headed towards the toilettes. I noticed that it was totally deserted when I pushed trough the swing door. I splashed cold water on my face. I breathed out slowly. I can't believe I almost did something like that in public. Like a teenage boy watching porn.

_Is that what has become of me?_

I cursed loudly and walked back out. Alice was surely going to be the death of me. Why did I have to develop some random girl crush on her of all people?

I walked out into the cold streets. It was about nine pm. My truck was parked near some club not far from the cinema. I headed in that direction not paying much attention to my surroundings.

As I walked past a dimly lit alley, I heard a couple argue. "What the fuck were you doing with that whore?" I walked a little slower. Where did I hear that voice before?

"Nothing, Rosalie. She just asked me where the bathroom was." Alice? I thought she had to do homework or something. Without really meaning to I walked to the alley.

"She had her hands all over you." Rosalie shouted. I glanced around the corner. Neither of them saw me. Rosalie was talking with an accent. Something I didn't notice when she interrupted my and Alice's phone call. Was that an Italian accent? In the dim light I could clearly make out that she was beautiful. One of those girls that caused everyone to stop what they were doing as she walked down the street.

"She didn't even touch me." Alice said softly.

"Don't give me that bullshit. You liked the way she was all over you." I saw the way Alice was breathing heavily. Whoever this Rosalie was, she was upsetting Alice.

"It doesn't matter. It is not as if we are together anymore. You made sure of that." Alice said her voice breaking slightly.

_Wait hold the fuck up._

Alice was gay? Little Alice was gay? Was that why she fucked with my head so much?

"That is why I came back baby. I want you back." Rosalie said but Alice shook her head.

"Sorry but I've moved on."

Rosalie glared at her. "With whom?"

Alice shrugged. Rosalie raised her hand. Without thinking, I moved so fast that by the time I grabbed Rosalie's wrist I had no idea how I got there.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you." I warned my voice soft.

"Bella?" Alice said asked.

Rosalie tried to turn her wrist out of my hand but it barely even moved. I moved placing myself between her and Alice. Then I released her wrist, she glared at me rubbing it.

"Who the fuck, are you?"

I ignored her. "Alice is everything alright?"

"I asked you a question. Who the fuck, are you?" Rosalie almost shouted.

"And I'm not talking to you. Wait your turn. Alice?" I glanced at her and some emotion crossed her face before she concealed it as she always does.

"Yes I'm fine." She said finally. Satisfied that she was indeed ok, I turned back to Rosalie.

"Is she another one of your whores Alice? You never seem to run out of them. Do you keep them on a leash or something?"

Something snapped. "Listen here. I don't know who you are or where you came from. What my relationship with Alice is is none of your concern. Your only concern is that if you don't leave right now I will phone Deputy Hale and tell him that you are drunk and that he should come lock you up for the night. I'm sure there are more than a couple of real whores in the holding cells that would be more than happy to take care of you."

She glared at me. I glared back. She looked away first. "Alice, are you coming?" She asked not looking up.

"No, I think I'll stay. Just go back to Europe already. There is nothing left for you here." Alice said and I felt so proud that she finally stood up for herself that I smiled at her.

Rosalie stomped of without looking back. It was quiet for a few seconds then I heard a sniffle. I looked at Alice, her eyes shining brightly with unshed tears.

I grabbed her hand. "Not here." I led her to the street, heading to the end of the docks. Hand in hand we walked. Her hand was so soft and fitted perfectly in mine. Tingles played soothingly between our fingers as if they knew that comfort was needed tonight.

I stopped at advertisement board at the end of the docks. I turned to her indicating that she should clime the imbedded ladder first.

"Bella what..."

I placed my finger on her soft lips silencing her. "Trust me." She looked at me for a long time. It was probably only a few seconds but it felt like years. Without a word, she turned and started climbing.

I climbed after her.

_Stop looking at her perfect butt Bella._

The ladder opened up on a very small walking plank. She gasped at the sight in front of her. You could see all the lights of Port Angeles. It looked like a blanket of motionless fireflies beneath us.

"Walk there to the middle." I whispered in her ear. She shivered and made her way to the middle slowly.

The wooden ledge was a little wider here and I sat down. She followed my example. I shrugged out of my jacket. It was quite cold tonight. Alice didn't have anything warm and that was probably why she shivered earlier.

"Here put this on." I handed her the jacket and made myself more comfortable, my legs dangling over the side.

"But won't you be cold?" She asked and I shook my head.

"I'm ok, besides I would much rather you be the warm one." She mumbled something but put the jacket on all the same. Seeing her in that jacket made my chest swell.

Neither one of us said anything as we just looked at all the lights of Port Angeles in front of us.

"You can cry if you want to." I said softly. She shook her head. "It's ok Alice. I'm here. You're safe with me. I promise."

"You don't hate me?" She asked in a whisper.

"Why would I hate you?" I asked a little confused. Would she always surprise me like this?

"I lied about doing homework."

I bumped her shoulder chuckling softly. "I would rather loose you to homework than to that bitch." I muttered and a small smile spread on her lips for the first time tonight.

"You would never loose me, Bella." She said so soft that if I wasn't sitting so close to her I might never have heard her.

"And I will never hate you Alice." She looked at me and smiled her dimple smile. My breath caught in my throat, my heart beating a hundred miles an hour.

"Even if I'm gay?" She asked looking away.

I took her hand to reassuringly. "Alice, I don't care what you are ok. You're just Alice to me."

"Just like you are my Bella." She said squeezing my hand softly. I gulped, an all too familiar feeling settled between my thighs at hearing her say 'My Bella'.

"So what is the story with Rosalie?" I asked forcing myself to think of anything else.

She stiffened slightly and I intertwined our fingers trying to comfort her. My hand buzzed with tingles the whole time. A soft smile appeared around her mouth. Pulling my hand onto her thigh, she untwined our fingers. I pouted a little at the loss of touch. She began tracing my lifeline with her fingers. New tingles ran across my palm and a moaned softly.

"Rosalie is my ex. I met her at Forks a year ago. She was visiting her estranged grandmother. I was smitten with her from the start. She was only here for two weeks that ended all too soon. So I convinced my parents to send me to the same boarding school she attended in Europe. I thought I loved her."

Tears were slowly escaping over the brim of her eyes. I removed my hand from her lap and put my arm around her pulling her against my side. She rested her head on my shoulder.

"At first everything was perfect. However later on she became so controlling. She was jealous of everything and everyone. Then one night I caught her cheating on me. I broke up with her and came back to Forks. She came here to try and convince me to take her back. The more I refused, the more she saw me as something that is off limits and something that she had to have."

She sniffled and wiped the tears from her cheeks. You have no idea how happy I was when you showed up. When she gets angry, she tended to get a little physical.

I snorted. "Alice call me old fashioned but you don't hit people that you love or claim to love."

"I bet you won't ever hit anyone no matter how heated the argument gets." Alice said. I wondered if she just thought aloud or actually meant to say it.

"I protect the people I care about Alice." I realized how she could interpret my last comment. But I did care about Alice. So even if she interpreted it that way I didn't mind.

We fell silent. Each of us lost in our own thought. I was fully aware that Alice stopped crying a long time ago but I didn't remove my arm. I liked the way she felt against my side.

"We should head on back." I said after awhile. "Did you come with your own car?" I asked and she paled.

"No we came in Rosalie's car." She looked worried and I shrugged.

"I can give you a ride, don't worry so much." She nodded. We walked to my Truck quickly. Well aware that we were only two girls in the middle of the night. I opened the passenger door for her and stood close to her if she needed any help. She didn't. I ignored the feeling that she somehow robbed me of a reason to touch her.

She fell asleep as soon as we drove out of Port Angeles. All the way I kept stealing glances at her. She really was one of the most beautiful persons I have ever seen. When we stopped in front of her house, I took a few minutes just watching her sleep.

I knew how cliché this sounded but she looked like an angel. I reached out and placed a lost lock behind her ear. She opened her eyes and frowned looking around her, orientating herself. I dropped my arm before she asked why I was pulling a stalker on her.

She yawned and turned to me. Then she leaned forward placing a small quick kiss on my cheek "Thanks for everything Bella." With that she got out and ran to her house. I could still feel her phantom lips on my cheek. My heart was beating like crazy and the feeling between my legs was even worse than it was in the movie.

_All that from a stupid kiss on the cheek?_

I waited until Alice was safely in her house before taking off, heading towards my own home.

**~.~**

I turned the key as soft as possible in the door. Opening it only far enough to slip through before silently closing it again.

Suddenly the light went on. "Do you have any idea how worried I was Bella?" Charlie asked sitting on the stairs.

Ah hell.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. **

**A/n this chapter is a very important turning point in their relationship. I've edited and re-edited it a couple of times so that it would be perfect. A big thank you to each and every reviewer, I appreciate your feedback a lot. Now on with the story. **

**Chapter 5.**

**Week one. Saturday afternoon.**

I still cannot believe that Charlie grounded me for three months. Yes, I came home in the wee hours of the morning. Yes, it is a dangerous world out there. Yes, I was only a seventeen-year-old girl but grounding me for three fucking months? And here I thought being a good friend was a good thing.

Yes, I get to see Edward and Alice at school. Seeing the latter nowadays was a lot better than seeing Edward since he was still mad at me. Well fuck him, so I didn't want to have sex all the time. Big fucking deal.

My love life is complicated. I've tried to keep a distance from Alice. Really, I have. I've even tried to patch things up with Edward but he is still ignoring me. That only gives me more free time to ponder over my feelings for Alice.

Feelings, I've come to identify as excitement, nervousness and (in some cases) desire. In short, all the things that one experience when your crush walks into the room and smiles in your direction. Here is the kicker though. I have the hottest boyfriend in school. Yet somehow I've managed to develop feelings for my friend, my female friend whom I recently learned is gay. Which raises the question (a rather important question I might add) does she even notice me in that way? In addition, how do I discuss this with her without making an ass out of myself and without hurting our friendship if she doesn't feel the same way? Yes, I have mentioned that my love life is complicated.

"Bella, there is someone here to see you!" Charlie shouted from downstairs.

I sighed and got up from where I was laying on my bed. I stretched and yawned as I walked towards my door. I'm not allowed to have friends over. Who was in Charlie's good graces that he would allow them visiting rights? Definitely, not Edward. Charlie hated Edward.

I walked down the stairs and yawned again. Naturally, this caused me to miss the second last step and I fell forward. I yelped in surprise, thrusting my arms forward instinctively. Instead of hitting the wooden floor my face landed against a soft chest. Strong-arms circled my back pulling me slightly forward. A small scream escaped my mouth without permission. I barely registered that the sound was muffled in the valley between two soft small mounds, pressing on the side of my cheeks. All of this was soon forgotten, as tingles turned my brain to mush.

_Tingles?_

Oh fuck, my face was nestled (quite nicely I might add) between Alice breasts. I pulled away from her red faced. She let me go and took a small step away from me.

"Alice…..sorry…..I…..clumsy…..accident….."

"Bella, are you ok?" She interrupted my lame attempt at apologizing for….I don't even now…. nuzzling her breasts?

I coughed and nodded. "Yes, perfectly fine. Sorry for…." I blushed even more. "You know, violating you like that."

She laughed and a small shudder ran down my spine. "Don't worry about it. But in the future, you might want to be more careful on staircases."

"Yeah, those fuckers always get you when you aren't looking." She rolled her eyes at my stupid joke. God she had beautiful eyes. "What are you doing here in anyway?"

"Oh well since it is my fault that you got grounded in the first place I thought I would entertain you for awhile." A sudden image of Alice doing a strip dance flashed across my mind.

_Stop that! She clearly didn't mean it in that way. _

"I'm glad that you know this is your fault." I teased her and got a cocky grin in return. "How did you get past Charlie?"

She shrugged. "A little bit of bargaining, a dash of bribery and a spoon full of Alice charm, of course."

"Of course, why did I even ask?" I replied sarcastically and she bumped my shoulder playfully.

"So are we going to stand here all day?"

I shrugged. "I guess we can go to my room." She smiled and nodded obviously agreeing.

"Right this way madam." I said and led the way back up the stairs being careful as to not fall again.

_Oh shit, is my room even clean? Did I throw away the pizza boxes from last nights dinner? Did I pick up all my dirty socks?_

I hesitated briefly before opening the door. I stepped out of her way and closed the door when she followed me inside.

"Yeah…" I ran my hand through my hair nervously. "This is my space." It wasn't very neat, it never was. It was however minus the pizza boxes, I did spot an old pair of socks in the corner though.

I watched as Alice walked around the room, picking up a book here, touching a poster there. She paused in front of my desk. She studied all the photos I had stuck to the wall, so that whenever I got bored studying I could look at all my friends. She lingered at a picture of Edward and me. He was pushing me on a swing, we were laughing at each other. Finally, she moved on and sat down on my bed smiling at me. Desire began to build inside of me, seeing her on my bed like that almost as if she belonged there.

_Fuck me._

"It's really nice Bella." She said and I walked over to the desk sitting on the chair.

_No way was I even sitting on that bed with her. Beds make people do stupid things. Bad things even. Bad things that make them cry out in ecstasy. Don't even fucking go there Bella!_

"So uh…" I cleared my throat. "What entertainment did you have in mind?"

Her eyes began to sparkle and an evil grin spread across her lips.

_Fuck. Me._

"Pedicures and manicures, of course." She said excitedly.

"Of course." I deadpanned.

**Week two. Saturday afternoon. **

"Come on Bella. Work with me here." Alice said doing something with the camera she brought along.

"Did I mention that I don't like having my picture taken?" I huffed in annoyance. Alice had this bright idea that we should take some pictures together since I had pictures of all my friends accept for her.

_As if I'll be able to concentrate on my homework, when her beautiful face was staring back at me._

"Dully noted, now come one smile." She placed the camera on my desk and hurried to stand next to me.

She slipped her arm across my back resting her hand on my hip. Tingles ran up my back and I barely mimicked her stance, remembering to smile when the flash went off. She clapped her hands together pleased and went to check the photo on the camera.

"The camera is to low. Oh I'll be right back Bella." She disappeared out of my door before I could say anything. She returned like a minute later and a disgruntled Charlie followed her into my room.

"She managed to pull you into this too?" I asked as she handed him the camera.

"Oh I don't mind. It's only a few pictures. You never can have enough of those." Charlie said and I swore my mouth was doing a stranded fish thing. You know that thing where your mouth opens and closes the whole time but you don't actually say anything.

_Where was my shy father?_

"Ok let's try this again." Alice said and she came to stand next to me, slipping her arm so that her hand rested on my hip again.

"You are evil, you know that right?" I mumbled and she laughed.

"You love me that way." She teased. "Now smile Bella."

Boy, did I fucking smile.

**Week three. Saturday evening.**

"Aren't you bored yet Alice?" I asked as I pushed my homework away. Alice and I was studying for a test. Or rather, I was since Alice was doodling. We were sitting against my bed, shoulder to shoulder. Tingles ran through me whenever we touched and I could smell her shampoo.

_Ok so I wasn't fucking studying either._

"I already know this stuff." She said indicating to the English handbook.

"No I mean, wasting your Saturdays with me, cooped up in this house when you could be having fun outside."

She looked at me and smiled. "I don't mind spending time with you Bella. I always have fun when I'm around you."

_She always had fun with me. Fuck yeah._

It was silent for a while, she closed her book and leaned her head on my shoulder. "So you and Edward finally made up."

"Yeah, he is so pissed that you get to visit me and he doesn't." I chuckled remembering how he came here yesterday and Charlie refused to let him in.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"For what?"

"I'm the reason you're grounded remember."

I took her hand squeezing it reassuringly. "Alice, it's not your fault. Stop worrying about it. Edward and I can deal with a little separation." She nodded, her hair tickling the side of my face as she did so. I noticed that I was still holding her hand. It didn't look like it was bothering her.

"Ok, but then I'm taking you to celebrate your freedom in nine weeks."

"It's a date." I ignored the butterflies in my stomach. It's not as if it really was a date. Alice didn't say anything but she did intertwine our fingers.

"Do you love him?" She asked suddenly breaking the silence that was filling the room.

"Who?" I asked confused.

"Edward."

"Oh…" A few months ago, I would have replied yes instantly. Yet, if I loved Edward why was I having feelings for Alice? It can't be love can it? Nevertheless, I can't tell this to Alice. I mean, I wasn't even sure if I wanted to do anything about the feelings I was feeling towards her. "Yes, I love Edward." I lied instead.

She slipped her hand out of mine and stood up. "Good, Edward loves you too." I frowned and copied her, also getting up. "It's getting late, I better go. Goodnight Bella." Before I could say anything, she left.

Did I do something?

**Week four. Friday evening. **

"Alice, is everything ok?" I asked the silent girl next to me.

We were watching a movie. A comedy I think. I don't know. I wasn't paying much attention to it in anyway. Instead, I focused on the fact that Alice hadn't said more than three sentences all night.

"I'm fine Bella." She smiled at me, trying to reassure me but it wasn't working. Her eyes were lifeless. Her smile had no dimples. Something was making her nervous.

"Don't lie to me. You have been quiet all week at school. What is making you so nervous?"

"I'm going on a date tomorrow." She blurted out. She looked at me wide eyed as if she couldn't believe that she actually said it.

Alice was going on a date tomorrow. A real date? With someone who presumably doesn't have a boyfriend. With someone that does not get excited about a fake-date eight weeks from now. She is going on a date with someone who presumably has this whole am I gay, bi or heterosexual things sorted out.

"Oh." I responded rather unintelligently.

"Oh?" She asked, not understanding my response.

"I mean, oh that is great Alice." I said with fake enthusiasm. "Who are you going with?" I asked trying to seem interested while I actually wanted to crawl into my bed and be depressed for the rest of eternity.

She narrowed her eyes at me, not fooled by the fake enthusiasm. She didn't press the matter. "With Amber." I frowned. No one at our school was named Amber. "I met her in Port Angeles last Sunday. We both reached for the same pair of shoes and well sort of talked for like two hours. We exchanged phone numbers and we texted each other the whole week. She asked me out on a date and I said yes."

_No duh, obviously, you said yes or you wouldn't be going on a fucking date!_

"What is the problem then?" I asked ignoring the jealousy that coursed through me.

_They texted each other? Big fucking deal. _

"The problem is that I like someone else. But this person is with the person they love. So my real problem is. Do I wait for the possibility of things not working out between them? Or do I try to move on with my life and try to be happy with someone else?"

_Fuck. My. Life. _

"Please Bella, tell me what to do." I looked at her. She looked so lost. I wanted to see her smile. I wanted to see that sparkle in her eye, she shouldn't be sad.

"Alice, you deserve to be happy. So do the thing that would make you happy." I said pulling her into a brief hug.

She pulled away and smile at me. Her eyes were sparkling and two dimples played in her cheeks. "You're the best." She leaned forward, placing a kiss on my cheek before standing up. "Well I better go get my beauty sleep. Call you later Bella." She left and I sat on the couch. Like a statue.

She had kissed my cheek again. So why do I have a sick feeling in my gut?

**Week five. Sunday afternoon. **

"Hello, my life sucks."

"Bells, you won't believe the weekend I had." Alice's cheery voice came over the receiver. My spirit lifted a little.

"Try me." I said, faking interest.

"Amber took me to the movies Friday and yesterday we spent the entire day in La Push. Man, can that girl surf."

_Who the fuck surfs in this weather?_

"Well I'm glad you had a good time honey." I turned on my side snuggling into my bed.

_This was what I did the entire weekend: a big fat fucking nothing._

"I'm sorry for not visiting you. Amber just kidnapped me yesterday and well not in a bad way."

I suppressed a moan. "Don't worry about it Alice. It's not like you have to visit me or anything."

_That didn't stop me from missing you. _

"I'll make it up to you next weekend ok?"

"Sure, sure. Listen Charlie is calling me. Talk to you later?" I lied. I just didn't want to hear anything else about the perfect Amber.

"Talk to you later then. Goodnight Bells."

**Week six. Sunday Evening. **

Another weekend, another no-show.

**Week Seven. Sunday morning.**

"Speak."

"We kissed." If I thought my fucking mood could not get any worse, it just did.

"That's great Alice. Was it special?" I felt dead inside.

Amber knew what it was like to kiss Alice. Amber knew what those luscious lips tasted like. And I? I was stuck in this fucking house. At school, I spent all my time with Edward. We haven't been to the cafeteria in a week. His car was more private. There was no room for Alice.

"It was romantic."

It was romantic? Where is the passion? Where is the excitement?

"Are you happy Alice?" There was a small silence on the other side.

"I think I am." She said finally.

**Week eight. Saturday afternoon**.

Alice was sitting on the kitchen counter. Her legs swinging excitedly as she told me about the date she planned for Amber. I couldn't care less if she was talking about Amber. All I cared about was the fact that she was actually here. The first time in three weeks, I could not stop looking at her. Every time I looked up, she was there in all her beauty.

I was busy making a chocolate cake. Baking kept me busy. It kept me from doing something stupid. Pushing Alice up against the counter and kissing the daylights out of her would be something stupid.

_Fucking hormones. _

I mumbled something to let her know that I was still listening to her. I mixed the icing together and dipped the tip of my finger into the chocolate mixture. I was about to bring my finger to my mouth when Alice's hand caught my wrist.

"Didn't you know that it was polite to share?" She leaned forward and sucked my finger into her mouth.

Her tongue was gently swirling around it, waves of desire settled between my thighs. I moaned not caring if she heard me.

"Do you like that Bella?" She asked, dipping her finger into the mixture and bringing it to my mouth. "Suck it." She almost growled.

And I did. She gasped and grabbed my waist with her free hand, pushing a little. I turned and she pushed me against the counter with her hips. I moaned and sucked a little harder on her finger. She groaned and pulled her finger from my mouth. Dipping it into the mixture again, she brought it to her own lips. She trailed the edges of her lips with the chocolate, coating them.

"Would you like a taste?"

I nodded and leaned forward. This is it. I was finally going to kiss Alice. My mouth was almost on hers, I could only imagine the wonders I would experience.

Beep, Beep, Beep.

I shot up, my body covered in sweat. One hand down my pajama pants. My heart racing a million miles an hour.

"Alice you will be the death of me."

**Week nine. **

Alice was on another date. Amber was doing God knows what with her. Ugh, just stop thinking Bella.

Amber kissing down her neck.

_Stop it._

Alice, throwing her head back moaning her name.

_Stop._

Their naked bodies pressed together.

_Fuck. Stop it right now. _

I kicked my bed. "Motherfucker!" I hobbled on my foot nursing my toe. At least I wasn't thinking of Alice now.

**Week ten.**

Alice didn't come to visit me yet again. I haven't said a word to Charlie all weekend. I think he noticed. Fuck this shit.

I dialed Alice's number.

It ringed a couple of times.

"Hello."

I disconnected.

Dialed again.

Only one ring this time.

"Bells is that you?"

I disconnected it before I said something stupid like, "I like you, wanna come over and make out?"

She called me back.

I silenced it…..seven times.

Eventually she stopped calling.

**Week eleven.**

Alice didn't mention the strange phone calls at all. Maybe she figured the less she dealt with my craziness the less chance she has of becoming crazy like me. Jealousy was making me crazy.

"Bella, do you want to go eat something with me?" Charlie asked, standing in the doorway of my room.

I stopped pacing. "Grounded remember."

He smiled. "See this as parole for good behavior." He was being careful. Keeping a distance. I think he knew something was up with me and he just wanted to make me feel safe. Maybe even get me to relax a little.

"Sure dad. Or should I say Mr. Parole Officer Sir." I bumped his shoulder as I walked pass him, he relaxed instantly.

"Mr. President. That is what you should call me. Ruler of the coach potatoes everywhere." I chuckled at his stupid joke. Charlie was sweet in his own kind of way. At least he could make me forget about Alice for a while.

**Week twelve. Sunday afternoon. **

I have only seen Alice at school. She never mentioned anything about our promised fake-date. But she wouldn't forget would she? I mean, sure she didn't visit me over the weekends at all since she and Amber started dating. Nevertheless, she promised.

"Dad is it ok if I go visit Alice?" I asked in the doorway of the living room.

"Sure thing, you are free now after all. Say hi to Alice for me. I haven't seen her around for a while. Did you two have a fight or something?"

"No, she's been seeing someone." He nodded his mind already at the baseball game in front of him.

I grabbed my keys. Maybe Alice is sick or something. Yes, there is no way Alice would break her promise.

**~.~**

I knocked on the front door. Her mother smiled at when she opened the door. "Bella, what a surprise. Did you finally serve your sentence?" She asked teasingly.

"Yes Mam, my father let me out a little early on good behavior." She laughed sounding almost like Alice. "Is Alice here?"

"I'm afraid not. She and Amber went to watch a movie in Port Angeles."

_What the fuck? Alice was out on a date, with Amber? _

"Oh ok, thank you." She nodded and closed the door.

Jealousy coursed through me. Of course, she would be on a date with her girlfriend. She didn't know that you liked her. She didn't know that you wanted to be the one that kissed her. You had a boy friend for fucks sake.

I plopped down on the bottom step of the porch.

_Why was this so fucked up? _

**~.~**

I had feelings for Alice, feelings that went far deeper than friendship. Do I ignore it and feel like someone killed my puppy every time she dates someone? On the other hand, do I do something about it and then just let the chips fall where they may? I can't go on like this. Feeling like this will break me.

Lights sweeping across the back yard brought me out of my musings. I glanced up. I was still sitting on the bottom step of the porch. Everything was pitch-black. Accept for the car in the street.

I shudder ran through me. Why was I cold? Why am I wet? Fuck, when did it start raining? I glanced at my watch, pressing the small light. 8.00 PM. I still had two more hours, before I had to be back home.

A door opened and closed, I heard Alice say goodbye before the car drove of. Alice began running to the house to get out of the rain. I stood just as she reached the porch.

"Alice don't scream." I said before she could voice her shock.

"Bella? You scared the shit out of me."

"I'm sorry. Come on, you better get out of the rain before you catch a cold."

She just looked at me. "You are one to talk. You are soaking wet Bella."

I shrugged. "I was waiting for you. I didn't notice when it started raining."

"You were waiting for me? Wait, aren't you grounded?" She asked still not moving.

I sighed. I stepped forward and grabbed her arm dragging her up the porch and out of the rain. I brushed my wet hair out of my face. She leaned with her back against the wall of the house. Little drops of water were dripping from her spiky hair. How did she look so perfect all the time?

"Yes for you, we had a date remember." I said standing near her so that I didn't have to shout over the noise of the rain.

"Oh shit. I totally forgot about that. Sorry Bella."

"Yeah, you easily forget about your friends. No big fucking deal if you forget a promise as well right?" I accused finally giving in to my feelings. "So you get a girlfriend and forget all about me? The clumsy friend, that just needs saving from time to time." I breathed heavily trying to calm down.

"No Bella, I didn't forget you. I could never forget you." She whispered tears glistening on her cheeks.

I suppressed the urge to comfort her. "Then why haven't you been to my house since you started dating Amber?" I stepped closer to her. Her eyes widened.

"Why have you been ignoring me? Do you have any idea how much I missed you these last few weeks? I wanted to spend tonight with you Alice." I took another step, placing my hands on either side of her body.

"Bella…."

"I wanted to tease you just to see your dimples when you smile. I wanted to dance with you under the stars, then when I brought you home…" I stepped forward again, my whole body pressed up against hers. I could feel her heart thumping against my own.

"Bella…"

"Even though it was only a fake-date and even though I had Edward and you had Amber I would do this…" I placed two fingers under her chin and claimed her lips with my own.

Her lips were soft but unresponsive against my own. I sucked her bottom lip into my mouth and she moaned. She placed her hands on my hips pulling me impossibly closer to her. I slipped my hands into her hair. She grazed my bottom lip with her tongue begging for entrance. I opened mine with a groan, pushing her up against the wall. The feeling of her breasts pressed up against mine made my head foggy. I tilted my head sideways deepening the kiss.

I didn't care that neither one of us were single. I didn't care that we both were females. All I knew was Alice and her lips on mine. All I knew was that in this moment nothing mattered accept that Alice should never stop kissing me. She tasted like heaven and then some.

She stopped and pushed against my shoulders suddenly. In a daze, I stepped back. "Bella I can't do this." She said between heavy breathes. "You should go home."

With that, she opened the door to her house and slipped inside.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**A/n This chapter was so hard to write. Once again, I edited, re-edited, and in some cases re-wrote entire scenes to get the flow just right. A big thank you to each and every reviewer that reviewed. Even the smallest review made me smile :) **

**Chapter 6**

I dialed the familiar seven numbers and waited.

_I kissed Alice!_

I paced across my room, come on pick up already.

_I kissed Alice and I enjoyed it. Boy did I enjoy it. _

I paced back. She is probably sleeping.

_Alice kissed me back! That has to mean something, right?_

"Hello?" A groggy voice said into my ear.

"Mom, I need your help."

"Bella what's wrong? Did something happen? Is Charlie ok?" She was completely awake now, I pictured her sitting up and removing her hair from her face.

"Everything is fine. Calm down mom. I just needed to talk to you about this stupid thing I did." I said starting to pace again.

"Bella are you pregnant?" She deadpanned.

"What? No! I say I did something stupid and you immediately think I am pregnant."

"No need to overreact. So what did you do?"

I sighed and sat down on the edge of my bed. How am I supposed to tell her? Hey mom, I kissed a girl and I liked it. Wow, look at me. I'm a wannabe Katy Perry.

"Bella, you know you can tell me anything." She gently prodded.

"I kissed someone." I whispered for some reason.

"Was it someone's husband? A teacher? One of your father's Deputies?" This was why the only thing we had in common was DNA.

"Mom, did you discover reality TV?"

There was silence on the other side and then she confessed, "Dr. Phil." Ugh. Even worse.

"Ok, well can you channel Dr. Phil some other time? I need my mother right now."

"Fine, let me just get a bit more comfortable here." There was a pause. I could just picture her plumping a pillow placing it behind her back then snuggling into it. "Ok, I'm all yours honey."

"Like I was saying, I kissed someone." I took a big breath holding it in for as long as possible before letting it out slowly. More calmly I continued, "I kissed someone that wasn't Edward and I enjoyed it."

"Well I already assumed that you didn't kiss someone you were supposed to honey."

I rolled my eyes. "I kissed Alice, mom."

"Alice? Who is a girl?"

"Yes."

"As are you a girl?"

"Yes."

"Oh sweetie, I didn't know you swung that way."

Ok not the reaction I had pictured. "I don't."

"You don't? Now honey, correct me if I'm wrong but you kissed a girl and you enjoyed it. Yet you don't swing that way?" I could hear the teasing in her voice.

"I don't swing that way. Kissing any other girl, kind of freaks me out. Yet with Alice, when we kissed I had weak knees and my head went all foggy. When we touch there are these tingles that screws with me." Saying all of this lifted a weight from me that I didn't know I was carrying.

"Sounds like you really like this girl. You're all eating rainbows and shitting butterflies."

"Mom!"

"Oh hush Isabella. It's not as if you are the first person to like another woman. I even had a brief fling with a girl in college."

"Mom!"

"That is nothing compared to the things I did as a teenager."

"MOM!"

"You're right. We are talking about you now. My hippie experiences can wait until another time." Hippie days? I shivered and pushed images of nude teenagers doing all kinds of drugs from my mind "So this girl, Alice, do you like her?"

"I do. But it is complicated."

_There was Edward followed by a very big, very bold Exclamation point, not to mention Amber._

"Well did she kiss you back?"

"Yes." I whispered again. I lay back on my bed, closing my eyes. I felt her lips on me again. The way our breasts pressed deliciously together.

"Then un-complicate things for me." Her question shook me from my memories.

"I'm with Edward and she is with Amber. She is also Edward's best friend."

My mother was silent for a while. This meant that she was thinking, something even more dangerous than her confessing random stuff. Because when she thinks, she usually says something that I don't want to think about.

"Bella, do you love Edward?"

_Like that._

Alice's face jumped up in front of me. She asked me the exact same question before Amber became a factor. I lied back then. There was no need to lie now.

"I thought I did. Now I'm not so sure. I mean I care about him immensely but Alice, she makes me feel. Really feel… mom, what am I supposed to do?"

"Honey, you have to talk to Alice. The rest will work itself out."

"It will?"

"Only time will tell. I however know that I didn't raise you to be a cheater Isabella. So I think you need to talk to Edward as well and you need to do it before someone gets hurt."

"Yes mother." I rolled my eyes. She could really be a pain sometimes.

"Well it is getting late and you have school tomorrow. Say hi to Charlie for me. Talking about your father, I guess you would like this conversation to stay between us?"

"Most definitely. Thanks mom, sorry for waking you."

"It's nothing dear. That is what mothers are for. Love you."

"Love you more."

"Love you most." She hung up. I disconnected the line.

She was right. I needed to talk to Alice. I needed to know how she felt. I needed to talk to Edward as well. Even if I couldn't be with Alice. Things weren't going well between us since before Alice came back to Forks. Maybe I felt special because he was the hottest guy at school and wanted to go out with me. Maybe I felt guilty because he hurt himself when he saved me last year.

Point is I was not in love with him anymore. I did not see a future for us. It will be much easier if I just broke things of with him. He could find someone that would make him truly happy.

**~.~**

I avoided Edward's early morning greeting snog and was now sitting in the English class (yes I am a coward but I couldn't break up with Edward at school) waiting for Alice to arrive. I didn't know how she was going to act towards me but since she was seated next to me in this class, she couldn't really run away or anything.

As soon as Alice walked into the classroom, I noticed her. It's as if the room got a little warmer, the students a little friendlier. As if she could feel my eyes on her, she looked up. I smiled, not really wanting to but more because it was my only reaction to her beauty. She frowned and paused slightly. She looked at Mike asking him something. He smiled and nodded his head so much he looked like one of those boggle heads. She smiled and sat down next to him.

_What the fuck?_

She hated this teacher as much as I did. Why was she sitting in the first row? Did I fucking mess up everything? Didn't she even want to sit next to me?

"Oh look, trouble in paradise." Lauren said turning in her seat to look at me. "Did you and Alice have a fight?"

"No Lauren. Why don't you mind your own business?" I said still looking at the back of Alice's head.

_Just look around and smile at me. I just want to know that I didn't fuck everything up. _

"Someone is not a happy camper. You know Jessica and I had a fight once, took us ages to get over it." She said with a pop of her gum. You know it is people like her, who gave blondes a bad name.

"Here's my cup of care. Oh, look, it's fucking empty! Can't you see that I'm not in a fucking mood for your bullshit today?" I shouted at her.

Everyone was staring at me. I never had an outburst like that at school. The thing was I knew what the cause was. She was sitting in the first row refusing to look at me even though I knew she heard me shout at Lauren.

Just then, our teacher arrived and everyone turned facing the front of the class. Still, I could see some of the students steal glances at me. I was probably wondering the same thing they were….

_Was I going crazy?_

"Today we are going to have a discussion." The whole class groaned. "Since we are reading Romeo and Juliet we'll discuss how you see and feel about love."

_It's fucking depressing that's what it is._

"Who would like to go first?" He looked over the class. Nobody even thought about volunteering. "Alice, how would you describe love?"

_Ha, do you see what you get for sitting in the front row? _

Alice moved uncomfortably in her seat. "I think that love complicates lives." With a simple sentence, she had everyone's attention.

"Take Romeo and Juliet for example. She was the forbidden fruit. That only made Romeo want her more." Her voice faltered a little, she cleared her throat and continued, "Their families couldn't stand each other. They knew what would happen if they were caught. Where did their love get them? Both of them died."

She paused letting her words sink in. Everyone just stared at her. Some even nodded their heads in agreement. "They should just have stayed away from each other. Maybe they would have found someone who could have made them happy."

_What? Happiness? Love is happiness. No way was love only happiness._

"You mean they should just have settled?" I asked aloud. I half expected the teacher to scold me for speaking out of turn but he just looked at Alice waiting for an answer.

"Yes. If it keeps the peace and hurts no one else in the process then they should have stayed away from each other." She didn't look at me but I got the message loud and clear. She was talking about us.

_As if, I could just stay away from her. _

"I don't agree." I could see how her shoulders were tensing. How her hands were gripping the desk. Briefly, I remembered her hands on my waist last night.

"And why is that Bella?" The teacher asked.

"If Romeo and Juliet settled they would never have known how great love could be. I mean, I know little about love. But they, they had so little time together yet they experienced enough of love that Romeo faked his own death to come back to her." I paused staring at the back of Alice's head. She was still refusing to look at me.

"She of course didn't know this but she loved him enough that she was willing to take her own life to be with him again. Because love is passion, chemistry and going a little crazy. It's doing whatever it takes to be with that one special person."

This got her attention. She finally looked at me. I spoke my next words only looking at her, saying them to her. "Love is not settling for second best. Love filled with passion is worth fighting for."

"So you are saying that it's ok for them to be together even though they can cause to families to kill each other over it." She looked at me, her blue eyes filled with electricity.

_How could she look so desirable even when she is mad? _

I didn't care about the other students in the classroom. She was challenging me to back down. To give up. Well I never gave up.

_Game on._

"I'm saying that you shouldn't settle. Sure you will think that you are happy but you will always wonder what could have been." I met her gaze, unwilling to look away.

She was silent. Our teacher was standing against the wall with a smile on his face. I guess this was the biggest student participation he had ever had in a class.

"Hurting other people's feelings and ruining friendships is not how you start a relationship. The risk for that to happen is just too great." She said softly, almost as if she wanted to convince herself.

I smiled. "Someone once told me that some things are worth the risk." Her eyes widened in shock and she was about to say something when the bell rang.

The students began packing away their stuff. Alice and I stared at each other until Mike broke our line of vision as he moved passed her desk to leave the classroom. Alice was packing away her books quickly. Stuffing everything randomly into her bag, she bolted from the classroom.

She couldn't avoid me forever. We had classes together. I could wait to talk to her.

**~.~**

Turns out, I had to wait. She went home or to be more precise, the school nurse sent her home.

_I suspected money changed hands. _

My school day had dragged by. The school just felt emptier without her. I didn't get a chance to speak to Edward either. He surprised me with a date. How do you break up with your boyfriend when he takes you to dinner? A romantic dinner at the Diner?

I'm not cold hearted enough to do something like that. However, apparently I was cold hearted enough to think about his best friend nonstop. I just couldn't get her out of my head. I looked at Edward where he was looking through the menu. I smiled. He always ordered the same thing. What was the point of looking through the menu?

"Edward?" Someone asked stopping next to our booth. I looked at her. The young girl in front of me had legs that went on and on forever, her tight fitted black shirt showed of a perfect flat stomach, cleavage that wasn't too big or to small and long curly red hair that rimmed an angelic face. She had her pearly whites on display as she smiled at Edward.

"Hi Amber, Alice do you want to join us?" Edward asked. Only now did I notice Alice was standing slightly behind her, their fingers intertwined. I felt a ping of jealousy course through me.

_Amber? How could I ever compare to her? Alice sure knew how to fucking pick them. Her type obviously was drop dead gorgeous. Rosalie was exceptionally beautiful even if she was a bitch._

"Sure why not." She said and her gaze drifted to me. Edward noticed and smiled.

"Amber this is my girlfriend Bella." Edward introduced us.

I held out my hand and she shook it, her hand was soft and warm. I had to fight the urge to use too much power and crush her little fingers.

_Fuck, I was acting like a testosterone-filled male._

"Alice told me so much about you." Briefly, I wondered if that included what happened last night.

"You guys can sit here and I'll sit next to Edward." I slipped out of my seat and Edward moved over a bit so that I could sit next to him. Amber sat across from Edward and Alice across from me.

"Alice, are you ok? We heard the school nurse sent you home." Edward said and Alice smiled at him.

"Yes, I'm feeling much better now thank you."

"It's a miracle." I commented dryly.

Edward looked at me surprised. I just smiled at him and he shrugged not pressing the matter.

"You were sick babe?" Amber asked concerned, taking Alice's hand.

_Babe? Kill me now._

"I just had a headache, nothing serious." Amber smiled and gave her a quick kiss. I looked away, afraid I might do or say something I'll regret later.

Our waiter saved me from doing something stupid when he came over to take our order. "What will it be?" He asked giving Alice and Amber a once over. It didn't escape my notice that he liked what he saw.

Edward ordered what he always ordered, Cheeseburger with fries. I opted for a Chicken Tortilla both of us ordering a chocolate milkshake.

"We will both have the chicken salad and cokes please." Amber ordered for her and Alice. I saw Alice's jaw flexing. She hated when someone ordered something for her.

_Was it weird of me to feel content about something small like that?_

"Alice mentioned that you are going to Hawaii next week to compete in a competition." Edward said and Amber nodded her head with excitement. They began talking about some surf techniques.

Alice was looking everywhere accept at me. "I missed you in class today." I said loud enough for her to hear me, but not loud enough that Edward or Amber would notice over their loud excited talk.

Alice's eyes finally met mine. "Don't Bella." She said softly.

I shrugged. "Just thought, you would want to know."

She looked away, her shoulders tense again. "Excuse me for a minute." Alice said to Amber who gave her cheek a quick kiss. She watched as Alice walked towards the bathroom before turning back to Edward continuing with their conversation.

I couldn't really find fault with her. She didn't brag about her surfing skills but she did talk about it with pride. She glanced over to the bathrooms every now and again waiting for Alice to return. She was funny and seemed like a genuinely nice person.

_This was only making me feel guiltier about kissing her girlfriend._

Alice returned and Amber whispered something in her ear. Alice nodded her head winking at her. They kissed again and I briefly wondered if Alice was feeling butterflies like I felt last night? Edward took my hand smiling at me lovingly. "You look beautiful, did I tell you that already?" He asked and I shook my head and thanked him. He gave my hand a squeeze and pulled me in for a kiss.

"You have quite the catch there Bella. Make sure you hold on to him." Amber said and I cringed at the thought of having to break his heart.

"The lucky one is me. I don't know how I ever lived without her." Edward said giving me another kiss. How I wished that kissing him felt even a tenth of what if felt like kissing Alice.

I met Alice's eyes after he pulled away. I felt like I couldn't breathe. How do people have affairs? I only kissed Alice once and my conscience was riding me to hell and back.

"Oh come on Edward, I'm really not all that great." I bumped his shoulder playfully being the girlfriend he expected me to be. "Amber you're one to talk, Alice is one in a million." I looked at Alice, enjoying the way she blushed.

"She sure is." She agreed playing with the hair at the back of Alice's neck. Alice smiled her dimple smile at her but I noticed that her eyes weren't sparkling.

The waiter brought our food over just then and even though it smelled great and looked divine, it tasted like cardboard. While Edward wolfed down his burger Amber and Alice were giggling and flirting with each other the whole time while we ate. They excused themselves as soon as they were done eating. Amber placed money on the table to cover their part of the bill. Hand in hand, they hurried from the restaurant. I felt like I was going to hurl.

"Three guesses what they are going to do now." Edward joked.

"Play tea party." I said sarcastically.

"Bet you Alice is the muffin."

I stood abruptly. "Edward, thank you for dinner, I'm not feeling to well. I'm just going to go home."

"Do you want me to drive you home?" He asked concerned.

"That's ok Edward. I have my truck."

"Fine, then at least call me when you get home." I nodded. "I love you."

"Goodnight Edward." I replied before making my way out of the restaurant.

**~.~**

I never meant to drive over here. I wanted to go home. I wanted to crawl into bed and not think about Alice and Amber. Life never asked me what I wanted. I drove around for hours. I called Charlie to let him know that I was going to be late and then switched of my phone. Edward had called like ten times and it worked on my nerves. I was going to break up with him so who cares if he is angry with me before hand.

I stopped in front of her house. Who was I kidding? I knew I was going to end up here eventually. I glanced to the top windows of Alice's house trying to guess which window was hers. I got out of my truck quietly. I didn't want to wake her parents or their neighbors. I crouched on the ground and felt around until I gathered a few small stones. I picked the furthest window figuring that Alice would like the room that looked out over the forest.

Feeling like a hormonal boyfriend coming over to sneak into his girlfriend's room to score some action, I threw the stone at the window. Nothing happened. I threw another and another thinking that she must sleep like the dead.

"Are you planning on waking up my parents because that is their room?" Alice spoke behind me softly making me jump.

"Where did you come from?" I asked trying to get my heartbeat under control.

"Amber just dropped me off. What are you doing here Bella?"

"Isn't it obvious? I came to talk to you."

"Bella, don't." She turned and headed towards the porch. I grabbed her hand and pulled her to the edge of the forest a few feet away. I didn't want to go near the porch. "Bella stop."

I let go of her hand ignoring the way she glared at me. "Look I just want to talk ok. After that you can go back to ignoring me or whatever."

She just looked at me. I wished that I could read her mind. She sighed. "What do you want to talk about?"

"About us."

"What about us?"

_Oh, she wanted to play that game huh. Fine then. _

"Our kiss last night."

She looked away, her fists clenched tightly together. I reached out to touch her shoulder but she pulled away from me. "Look Bella, that kiss was just a mistake. You obviously thought you were going to loose my friendship because I was seeing Amber and you reacted in the moment. Just forget about it. I already have."

"Does your ass ever get jealous of the shit that comes out of your mouth?" I was angry. Forget about it? Like it never happened. No fucking way I was walking down that road.

"I'm not talking shit."

"You are if you think I could just forget about kissing you. I can't forget about kissing you, it is all I can think about. You say that I got my emotions mixed up somehow because I was afraid I might loose you…." I walked towards her slowly. "I haven't mixed up anything. I like you Alice. I like you more than just a friend. When you were with Amber I got so fucking jealous, I could barely sleep at night."

She back away slowly. "When I kissed you it was because I wanted to. I kissed you because I couldn't stop thinking about kissing you. What it would be like? What it would feel like? And you know what?" She backed herself up against a tree and I took one finale step stopping a few inches in front of her. "That kiss you want me to forget Alice, that kiss was the best fucking kiss I had ever had in my life." We stared at each other. I wanted to touch her. All I had to do was reach forward, just a little.

"What about Edward?"

"I'm going to break up with him."

"What? I thought you loved him. That night I asked you…" She poked me with her finger, right in the chest. The force actually caught me by surprise.

"I asked you if I should wait…" Poke. "Or if I should…." Poke. "Go out with Amber." Poke. "You said, go be happy…." Poke. "And now that I am happy…" Poke. "You come and turn my world upside down." Poke. "Again."

I caught her hand before she could poke me again. "Wait, what?" I dropped her hand wearily. It just rested by her side. I rubbed the spot she poked. It hurt like a motherfucker.

"How could you not have known that I was talking about you?"

"You were talking about me? You like me?" I felt dizzy. Alice likes me.

"Yes you! But you told me to go be happy." She said angrily.

"Well maybe if you said something like, "Bella I like you." I would have said something different."

"Would you really have said something different? You, who are so in love with Edward?" She accused.

"Was, in love with. Past tense." I corrected her. "I wanted to break up with him today because if I was in love with him I would never have kissed you."

"It still doesn't matter Bella. I'm his best friend. You are off limits. It doesn't matter if you are with him or not. Do you know what it would do to him if you and I….and how do I know I'm not some sort of science project? I'm gay and up until recently, you've been straight. This is new and interesting to you. What if the experiment is over and you realize this isn't what you wanted? I'm with Amber. I'm happy with Amber. So you and I can never….."

I placed my finger over her mouth silencing her. I looked into her eyes. They were a slight grey color in the moonlight.

"Honey, here is all you need to know. I like you." I traced her bottom lip with my thumb.

"I'm going to break up with Edward even if you don't want to be with me. I liked kissing you last night and this is not just some experiment." I looked into her eyes so that she could see I was telling the truth.

"I will wait for you to realize that you can be more than just happy with me….." I leaned forward, I heard as she gasped.

"There is just one thing you should keep in mind…" I brushed my lips with hers, her eyelids closed as she made a soft whimpering sound.

"I know you enjoyed that kiss last night, I could feel it when you kissed me back." I pulled her into me and moved my cheek against hers until my lips reached her ear. Then I whispered softly. "You will think about that kiss when you lay in your bed all alone at night. I promise you this Alice….I will not kiss you again until you ask me to."

I stepped away from her. Slowly her eyes opened again.

"That is all you have to know Honey. The rest doesn't matter."


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**A/n Thank you everyone who reviewed. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. **

**Chapter 7**

I walked to my truck without looking back. I was afraid that if I did look back at that moment, I would give in and go pin her up against a tree and have my way with her. I said my part. She needed to go think things through. I climbed into my truck and glanced up. Alice was standing on the porch her hand on the knob of the front door. I switched on the interior light of the truck so that she could see me and blew her a kiss. She hurried inside and I chuckled.

_I might have promised not to kiss you again Alice but that did not mean that I wasn't going to fight for you. _

_**~.~**_

I stopped in front of my house without really knowing how I got there. I could still feel the spot Alice had poked. I could still hear her gasp when I brushed my lips with hers. I felt like a thousand volts was coursing through my body. Emotions as strong as this, was new to me. How could I have ever thought that I loved Edward?

As I got out of my truck, lights flashed behind me. I spun around in surprise. Parked on the side of the road was Edward's Volvo. His door opened and he got out. The pleasant feelings that flowed through my body a moment ago stopped only to be replaced with guilt.

I closed the truck door and with feet that felt like led walked over to him. He leaned against his car, his arms crossed over his chest. I stopped a little ways away from him. Neither one of us spoke. We just looked at each other. I looked away first. Placing my hands in my jeans pockets I kicked a small rock.

As if this was a sign, he finally spoke, "Bella what is going on? And please no more lies." He didn't sound mad, he didn't even shout. That in itself was almost worse than being shouted at.

"Ok, no more lies." I paused not sure how to begin. "Edward…I'm sorry…the thing is…"

_Stay away from the clichés Bella._

I took a deep breathe. Edward just stood silently watching me. "I can't do this anymore, Edward."

"You can't do what?" His voice was unemotional. His eyes looked like coal in the night.

"Us. I can't be with you." He looked away from me.

"Why?" It sounded like he was forcing the question out between his teeth.

"Please know that I didn't expect this to happen. I didn't go looking for it. Nevertheless, it did happen and at first, I didn't even know what it was. I lied to you, I lied to myself and I tried to keep things like they were because it was familiar and save." I paused trying to find the words to make it easier for him to understand that I really didn't want to hurt him.

"I went crazy for someone Edward. I went crazy for someone and it wasn't you." I expected him to curse at me, to call me names. He just stood there silently, not looking at me nor saying a word.

"Edward I'm really so…"

"Bella don't tell me you're sorry. I don't want to hear it." His hands were clenched into tight fists, his words filled with anger. "I don't want to hear how you justify cheating on me. I love you for fucks sake."

I flinched back as he shouted the words at me. I knew I was going to hurt him. I knew that he didn't deserve any of this.

_It's not like there was some "how to" manual for breaking up with someone._

"I never cheated on you. No, that is not true. There was this one kiss…" He cursed and turned away from me kicking the front tire of his car, "…it was only once and I am truly sorry, you don't deserve any of this."

He rested his hands on the hood of his car, breathing heavily. "Who is it?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes it matters. I have my pride Bella. Don't think I'm going to let you go without a fight."

_And there he is, Queen Edward. _

"Edward, you don't have to fight for me. This is not some dumb alpha thing were the strongest person or whatever gets the female. Things between us will never have worked." He opened his mouth to say something but I raised my hand to silence him. "Edward you deserve the best, you deserve someone that will make you truly happy. That person is not me."

"How can you say that? After everything, we shared together. You are the only person for me." His anger was gone, his fists balled together for a different reason. He was trying to keep his emotions under control.

"I will cherish some of those moments forever Edward. You need to accept this. I could never make you happy. Not if I cared so much for another."

"So what, you just want to be friends?" His voice was cold again.

"Maybe someday we could be. I would love to be your friend Edward. Right now I think it is better if we just give each other some space." I was not a big supporter of the we can still be friends thing.

It's as if you don't just mourn the loss but you're reminded of it every day. Who wants to suffer like that? It's like dieing slowly, a bit at a time. All the while you smile and thank the under person for it.

"Go please." His broken words shook me from my musings.

"What?" I asked slightly confused.

"Go, just go. I can't look at you anymore." His shoulders where shaking slightly.

"Edward, I'm sorry for what I did to you. One day I hope you can forgive me." He didn't respond and I reached forward to touch him. I stopped myself. I dropped my hand and turned walking to my house. I heard his car start and I turned back seeing his taillights disappear into the night. When I finally closed the door behind me, I realized that I was crying.

**~.~**

I slept surprisingly well. I haven't dreamt about Alice. I didn't cry until the wee hours of the morning about hurting Edward. I cried for a little while and then the tears had stopped just as suddenly as they had begun.

I was sitting in English class. Again.

I was avoiding Edward. Again.

I was waiting for Alice to arrive. Again.

The other students began taking their seats. Our teacher arrived, taking out the notes he prepared for class. He was just about to begin when Alice stormed into the class, rushed to the back and slid into her seat next to me. She was breathing heavily, her chest heaving. I had to force myself to look away from her barely noticeable cleavage, to focus instead on her slightly red flushed face.

As our teacher began with his class, I ripped a page from my notebook.

**Cutting it quite close, aren't we? **I wrote and placed the paper on her desk. She ignored it at first but sighing softly she pulled it towards her. She read it briefly before writing something.

**It's your fault. You had to go and break-up with Edward. I had to drag him to school, in the rain. Mud everywhere. I ruined a perfect good pair of shoes. **I snickered and she glared at me. Her eyes looked like balls of electricity.

**It should be a crime for you to be so beautiful. Do you have any idea how hard it is to concentrate around you? **I placed the note on her desk and she read it immediately. She huffed and scribbled something. As she placed the paper on my desk, I reached forward and touched her hand. Tingles rushed up my arm like a wild fire. She pulled her hand away quickly.

**Do you have any idea how hard it is to listen to your best friend go on about the person who stole his one and only love from him? To stand there feeling like the worlds biggest jerk because you are the person he is talking about. Add to that the fact that I didn't steal you. I mean we aren't….you know.**

_Great, just fucking great. _

I never really thought about how my and Edward's break-up would affect Alice. I knew that I was going to hurt Edward. I never thought that it would make Alice feel even guiltier.

**I'm sorry for putting you in such a bad position. In time, he will get over me and find someone that will make him happy again. You know if you just ask me one question we could be….you know. **I passed her the note, ignoring the fact that it felt like we were ten years old or something.

She huffed in annoyance and I smiled. She passed the note back. **No, we couldn't be….you know. Edward asked me to stay away from you. As the best friend, I'm supposed to ignore you to let you know that I think you are being stupid in leaving Edward over some little kiss. **

_Edward did what?_

**I hope you fucking told Edward to go to hell. Just to clarify something….I didn't leave Edward over some kiss. I left Edward for you.**

She took her time replying. She bit the back of her pen. I envied the object for having the luxury of even being in contact with her lips. Finally, she scribbled something.

**I told Edward that I wasn't going to pick sides. I'm Switzerland. **I giggled causing Lauren to glance over her shoulder to look at me. I smiled sweetly at her and she turned her attention back to the teacher.

I wrote something but didn't give it to Alice. I could feel her annoyance towards me through the rest of the class. Once the bell rang, I grabbed my books stuffing them in my bag. I turned to her to find her glaring at me. She didn't even pack away anything. She just sat there tapping her pen on her desk.

_So fucking hot. _

I gave her a smile and handed her the paper before making my way out of the class. I barely made it to the door when something hit me against my head. I looked down to where the projectile landed at my feet. I picked up the paper ball and looked over to where Alice stood staring me to death.

_That was fucking impressive. _

She hit me with the thing even when there were students walking around me. I smoothed it out. Smiling I read the last line I wrote.

**That's my girl. Oh and you were right…those were great shoes. **

I looked up over at Alice who was making her way towards me. I smiled and winked at her before walking out of the class.

**~.~**

"I have a small announcement to make. We are going on a small two-day camping trip. Please take a permission slip home with you tonight and let your parents sign it. This trip is mandatory. We are leaving on Friday and will be back Saturday evening." Our art teacher announced, near the end of our class.

Excited chatter from the few boys in the art class began filling the room while some girls began complaining about how there is no electricity and plumbing in the woods.

"Sounds like fun." I said packing away my sketchbook.

"Nothing about camping is fun." Alice commented dryly.

"Just because there isn't a mall doesn't mean it can't be fun. There is nature, fresh air and not to mention…" I wiggled my eyebrows at her. "…my great company."

She rolled her eyes. "Hmm, so if there is a lake… you are all in for skinny-dipping with me?"

Without meaning to, I envisioned Alice naked in my minds eye.

"Well I…."

Small rivers running down her naked body, as she walks out of the lake.

"I guess…"

Her erect nipples, just begging for some attention from my mouth.

"I wouldn't want…"

I squirmed in my seat as wave after wave of desire settled between my thighs.

Alice leaned over. "Why are you so nervous Bella?" She giggled and leaned back in her seat.

"Oh you're mean."

She gave me a cocky grin. "Bells, I'm so much better in real life and in real life I'm with Amber. Don't forget that." She stood up to go get the permission slip.

_Like I could ever fucking forget. _

**~.~**

Friday came like a thief in the night. Suddenly I was standing in front of the bus waiting for the teacher to check everyone's permission slips. Edward was talking to Alice a little ways away. He was still ignoring me, which is understandable. By now, everyone in school knew we broke up. Every girl was thinking that I'm the stupidest person alive, letting someone like him get away.

"Let's go people, let's not wait for the grass to grow." Our teacher said and Alice gave Edward a quick hug before walking over towards me.

"You ok?" I asked as we walked up the three bus steps and headed towards the back of the bus.

"Fine, Edward just wanted me to see if I could find out who the mystery guy is." She said and slid into an empty seat near the back.

"Alice, I'm…"

"If you say you are sorry one more time I'll punch you."

I sat down next to her, ignoring the tingles that played between our arms. We couldn't help but touch each other. The seat was only so big.

"I'll much rather have you spank me." I teased her. She ignored my comment staring out of the window. "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked and she sighed.

"Nope, I do want to sleep though. I studied until one this morning for that Biology text next week."

"Aren't you the good student?"

"Me good? Never." She made an innocent face causing me to laugh. "What did you do last night?"

"Who me? Well I pulled an all nighter in preparation for that same test."

"You studied? All night?"

"Wait, you are supposed to study?"

We laughed as the buss pulled out of the school parking lot.

**~.~**

I woke up as something tickled my nose. Through heavily sleep induced eyes, I identified several spikes in my line of vision. Frowning I pulled back a little and saw Alice fast asleep on my shoulder. She must have shifted in her sleep. The bus turned onto a dirt road and I sat as still as possible. I didn't want to disturb Alice I liked the way she felt against me, almost as if she belonged there. The bus stopped and the doors swooshed open. Alice woke with a start.

_We couldn't have just driven a little fucking longer. _

"Hey there, Sleeping Beauty. Did you enjoy your nap?" I teased her.

She just yawned. She was obviously still a little out of it. I stood and grabbed her hand dragging her off the bus and towards our teacher. I dropped her hand and looked around. Three cabins were located the closest to us. They looked like they could house at least ten people each. To the back was a large wooden building and two smaller buildings, the big water tanks near them made me think those was our bathrooms. Then behind everything, teasing me with all kinds of possibilities was a lake.

"Right, boys have the cabin to the right. Girls you are the one on the left." Our teacher said indicating to two of the three cabins. "Get your bags, go claim a place to sleep then we'll meet at the Great hall over there…" He pointed to the biggest building. "We'll eat something before you'll explore the wild to sketch a landscape of your choice…." He paused and looked at us. "What are you waiting for?"

We all mumbled something before heading to our assigned cabins.

**~.~**

"This is so cool!" Mandy shouted over the loud music.

"A party in the woods, who knew it could be so much fun!" I shouted back.

We were all dancing and laughing, not a care in the world. Mr. Green surprised all of us at dinner when he pulled out a CD player and some music informing us that we're having a dance party until about midnight. The music was great. I'm thinking that either he had a very young girlfriend or he had great taste in music. Heath did something fancy with wires and connected the CD player to the big speakers at the back (that were used for presentations) and now we have sound.

I searched over the moving bodies for Alice. She had danced with Ambrose earlier, he was now dancing with Tanya and Alice was nowhere in site. I made my way over to Ambrose. I tapped his shoulder and he smiled at me.

"Bella, do you want the next dance?" He shouted and I rolled my eyes. He sure was getting around.

"No, I was looking for Alice. Have you seen her?"

"She went outside, said she needed some fresh air." I nodded and made my way to the door. It was getting hot inside and some fresh air sounded like a good idea.

I stopped outside the building and looked around. Lights from the windows made my task much easier as I spotted her at the dock of the lake. She was swaying to the beat of the music. The moon was out for once, no rain clouds to ruin the moment. I began walking in her direction, the moonlight illuminating her in silver. She looked like nothing I've ever seen before.

She was standing with her back towards me, quietly I moved towards her and once she was in arms reach, I slid my arms around her stomach pulling her into me.

She stiffened, yelping in surprise. "Are you lost little girl?" I whispered into her ear.

"Bella you scared the shit out of me." She said relaxing into me. I smiled placing my chin on her shoulder. Her spikes tickled the side of my face.

"Didn't you mention something about skinny-dipping?" I asked my warm breath playing across her neck caused her to shiver. She tried to pull away but I kept her against me.

"I uh….well I was…joking…"

I chuckled slipping my hands to her waist. "Well how about just dancing then?"

"I don't think that is a good idea Bella."

I started moving on the beat of the music. "Why not?"

"I can't…." I moved my hips slowly, sensually from side to side.

"Definitely not a good id…" Her voice faltered when I grinded against her, the rest of her sentence forgotten. My grip on her hips tightened as a response to the heat building between my thighs.

She began moving with me, her hands moved back to rest on my hips as she pushed back slightly grinding into me. Her scent washed over me as her head moved to the side. I brushed my nose over the exposed flesh, breathing her in.

I groaned, my head felt dizzy the only thing centering me was her. Everything seemed to disappear as she moved, turning around in my arms. We continued to sway. A low moan escaped my mouth when she placed her leg between my own as she pulled me into her.

My breathing was erratic from the friction caused by her as she began to grind against me. My hands slipped over her hips, moving under her shirt to rest on her lower back. She leaned her head back. I leaned forward. My warm breath on her neck caused her to arch more. She groaned as I placed a small soft kiss at the base of her throat, a phantom touch. She opened her eyes straightening up. We were so close that her lips were inches from mine.

"Bella, please kiss…"

Laughter caused us to jump apart. Heath and Tanya disappeared around the corner of the bathrooms. I looked at Alice, both of us breathing heavily. A constant throbbing between my legs, reminded me just how much I wanted her. She was about to ask me to kiss her.

"Fuck. Talk about bad timing." I mumbled.

Alice moved away from me. "Bella, we can't…you know that…and I'm with Amber."

"Not right now." I said stepping towards her.

"Bella, please don't." I sighed and help up my hands in defeat.

"Fine, sooner or later though you are going to finish that sentence." I turned and walked away from her. Again.

As I walked passed the bathrooms I could hear Heath and Tanya laughing inside.

_Fucking hormonal teenagers, ruining my game!_


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**A/n. To everyone that reviewed, your reviews are always very much appreciated. **

**I think you all might like this chapter. **

**Chapter 8**

"I'm bored. Remind me again what I'm doing here?" I pulled my jacket closer to me as the cool breeze whipped my hair over my cheeks softly.

"You are here to spend some quality time with your old man before his ticker gives out." My father said watching the policeman on the end of his line, it barely moved.

"I thought you where as healthy as a horse. Maybe if you cut back on the steak you will give your ticker some extra time." I teased him shifting the fishing pole in my lap just to have something to do.

He mumbled something and then silence settled over us once again.

I still cannot believe that somehow he had managed to drag me out of my bed at four am on a Sunday morning to go fishing with him. Here I was, sitting in a small boat that reeks of dead fish, with my father whom never spoke more than ten sentences to me on a normal day.

_What the fuck am I doing here?_

"Is it always like this? I mean to go for hours without a bite?" I asked once the silence became too much to bear, which was only like a minute.

If this were Alice and I, I wouldn't be bothered by the silence. I would just stare at her all day. When the sun's first rays breach the dark sky I would slip my arm over her shoulder and tilt her face towards mine. My lips would seek out hers and it would be one of the most romantic moments of my life.

_The boat would so not smell like dead fucking fish._

"Bells, the only thing predictable about fishing is that it's unpredictable." My father's voice brought me back to reality.

_Really? Why not buy the stupid fish then?_

"What do you think about when you are out here al alone? You must think about something do distract you from this…stink and silence." I shifted the pole again.

"I think about you mostly….and your mother." He confessed reeling in his line. "Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I fought back, if I gave up my job and went with her to the big city."

He checked his bait. "Dad she left you, not the other way around."

He threw his line in. The line whizzed until the sinker fell into the ocean with a soft splash. "Bells, I knew your mother never belonged in a small town. She needed new challenges. She develops new interests on a daily basis. By trying to force her to do stay in Forks, I made her unhappy. So when she wanted to leave I let her go."

His shoulders hung a little. "So now you are unhappy? You love her dad. How could you watch her walk out of your life?"

"Bella, it was the hardest thing for me to do. I didn't just lose a wife. I lost a daughter as well. The thing is, when it comes to the people you love, you'll do whatever it takes to make them happy. You don't think about what you want, all you care about is what they want." He paused. After a moment, he tilted his head and smiled. "Now look at her, she is truly happy. That makes it all worth the while."

I never once thought about how Charlie felt during and after the divorce. It really was hard on him. "Why didn't you leave with her? You still could have been a cop somewhere else."

"I had a dream Bella. I wanted to be the Chief of police in the town my whole family grew up in. I wanted to keep that town safe so that the generation that came after me could grow up there as well. Giving up on that dream, would have made me unhappy. Your mother would have felt guilty and she would convince me that things would be better if we just moved back. She still would have ended up being unhappy in the end."

I sat forward and gave him an awkward hug. My arms not long enough to go entirely around his broad frame. "I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that on your own." I mumbled into his side.

"I'm not alone, I have you." I knew that if I looked at him he would be blushing.

"I love you dad."

"I love you too Bells." He kissed the top of my head and I pulled away, sitting back down picking up my half-forgotten fish pole. "If only the fish would bite." I said and he chuckled.

"You know the fish can hear you. Fishing is supposed to be quiet." I rolled my eyes. My thoughts however did begin to wonder as we swayed with the raise and fall of the ocean.

Wasn't I trying to force Alice to make a decision? If she was truly happy with Amber, shouldn't that be enough?

_She could be happy with you too._

She had that option for more than a week now and she still hasn't asked me to kiss her. She is with Amber. Maybe if I gave her some space she could really think about what she truly wants. Yes, that is it. I'll give her some space. Give her a chance to mold the possibilities over in her head.

Suddenly I felt a big tug on the fish pole and the control began to sing.

"Bella you caught something." Charlie shouted excitedly.

"Oh crap what do I do?" I asked staring at the pole between my hands in shock.

"Play with the fish, tire it out and then very slowly control it in." I followed his instructions. Sweat began to form on my forehead.

"I always thought fishing was just throwing some bait in the water and then you pull the stupid fish out." I mumbled.

"Ha, it's much more fun than that Bella." Charlie said as he fluttered around me anxiously waiting for the big prize to arrive.

About ten minutes later, my prize lay in the boat with us. My clothes were soaked, the smell of dead fish was intensifying with every breath I took and Charlie was beaming down at me.

"Your first fish, I'm so proud of you Honey."

"It's like a baby fish dad."

"No it's not. That is a nice sized fish Bella. It would make lovely fish fry."

"Lovely."

"You're never coming fishing with me again, are you?"

"Nope."

"Thought so."

**~.~**

The following Monday I arrived at school later than usual. Normally I would be here early, avoid Edward and wait for Alice in the English class. I have decided that while I was giving Alice space, it would also be a good idea if I stayed away from her as well. The less I am around her, the less chances temptation had to temp me to touch her. It drove me insane. The fact, that I couldn't touch her when she was so close or that I couldn't kiss her.

I slammed my truck door closed and ignored the curious stares of the other students.

_How the fuck would they feel if the person they love was with someone else. _

I walked to class moving in and out of the other students without noticing any of their faces. I stumbled into someone and without looking up mumbled and apology. Yes, it is rude but Alice was turning me into a focus-only-on-Alice Zombie. When I finally walked through the door of the English class, I forced myself not to scan the room to look at the most beautiful person on earth.

Instead, I watched where I placed my feet and made my way to my desk. I slid into my seat, dropped my bag on the ground and with a sigh got out my English book. I could feel her staring at me.

_Please say something to me so that I can fucking look at you._

"Morning Bella."

_Halle-fucking-lujah_

I turned my head in her direction. "Top of the morning to you, Alice." I replied politely. When our eyes met, the world stood still. Her baby blue orbs were filled with questions. I forced myself to look away first. Luckily, our teacher decided to start his class right then and I forced myself to listen to the lecture.

While I took notes, I noticed that Alice was searching for something feverishly. I chanced a glance in her direction and noticed that she hadn't written down any notes. She must have forgotten her pen at home. I took an extra one out of my pencil case and without looking at her placed it on her desk.

"Thank you Bella." She whispered and I nodded writing something in my book. I knew she was staring at me. Avoiding looking at her was necessary. This was for the grater good, so to speak. Look at the ugly old teacher Bella! See focus on his reducing hairline.

_A fucking reducing hairline? I'm substituting Alice's gorgeous face for a fucking reducing hairline?_

English never was this difficult before. I never wanted a class to be over sooner. Clearly, I haven't thought this plan through. Just treating her like any other person was much harder than I thought. Who was I kidding? She wasn't just some person. She was Alice.

Alice was not easily ignored. Her sent lingered around me, reminding me of the heavenly creature that sat beside me. A fresh blush creeping up my neck told me that she was staring at me. Whenever she wrote something in her book, I noticed it from my peripherals. When she leaned her chin on her left hand sighing in boredom, I forgot to breath. My mind wondered to the two incredible moments we shared together. Those two perfect moments that replayed in my mind repeatedly.

The bell rang. I sighed in relief and packed my stuff away. I stood to take my first step of freedom when I lost my footing. I began to fall backwards. Arms circled around my waist as someone pulled me into them. Tingles hit me with such a force that I forgot to breath and I shivered as soft breasts pressed into my back. There was only one person that had this effect on me.

"Are you ok?" Alice breathed into my ear. Her hot breath caused the small hairs on my neck to stand up. Goosebumps spread over my arms.

She loosened her hold on me and after she made sure I wasn't going to topple over she stepped away from me. Instantly I felt colder as if all the warmth in the world disappeared.

"No...yes...ok...huh?" I asked tongue tide.

_Smooth Bella. Real fucking smooth. _

"You really are cute when you do your whole nervous babble thing." Alice teased me, unleashing her full dimple smile on me.

_Fuck me please?_

No, focus Bella. Distance, remember the distance and focus only on the distance.

"I'm sorry, thanks for saving me...again. See you at lunch, take care now." I rambled before grabbing my bag and more carefully than before walked to my next class.

_Take care now? She is going to think that you are an imbecile. Take care now. Ugh, you are such a fucking moron. _

"So did Alice stick you with a pencil or something?"

"What?" I looked up and saw Angela frowning at me as we walked down the corridor. I didn't even notice her next to me until she spoke.

"Alice and you, there is this tension around you guys. It's like you are waiting for something to burst…" _Oh, you have no fucking idea. _"…It's just. I don't know how to explain it. Is she bugging you because you left Edward?" Angela continued unaware of my internal conversation with myself.

"No. It's nothing like that."

"Good because Queen Edward can do his own dirty work. I just hope that you and Alice can sort out whatever it is that is making you act all weird."

"I'm sure we will. Don't worry about us ok?"

She nodded as we entered our next class together. Angela is much more perceptive than I gave her credit for, I must keep an eye on her.

**~.~**

Things became a lot easier as the week progressed. Alice still had these moments where she looked at me as if she was trying to figure out a puzzle. I just kept my distance. No flirting, no joking and absolute no touching. I knew that if she should touch me again, I would crumble and I would try to win her heart over.

We both knew that there was something between us. Something she was trying very hard to hide behind the fact that she had a girlfriend. A girlfriend who was, as of this moment, in Hawaii.

It was Wednesday. More importantly, it was chicken nugget day. It was the only day of the week where you actually knew what food was on your plate. I sat at our table with Eric, Angela and (for some strange reason) Mike. Edward still hasn't joined the table since we broke up.

Alice walked over with a salad and a bottle of water. She dragged her chair back. The scrapping sound the chair made on the floor sent a shiver down my spine.

"I can't believe that there are no nuggets left. It's chicken nugget day for crying out loud. This is complete bullshit." Alice ranted, venting her frustration. She tried to open her bottle of water but it refused. She pushed it aside and glared at her salad.

"Careful people, Alice actually cussed. Don't mess with her she is pissed." I joked and as the table laughed at my silly joke I saw Alice relax a little.

She was wearing skinny black jeans, a white tank top and a black jacket. I couldn't see her feet but I was sure they were covered in black pumps. How easy would it be to slip my hands around her waist, reveling in the warmth of her body and the jacket? It would be so easy to bite her soft skin at her pulse point in her neck before soothing that place with my tongue.

I jumped slightly when Mike nudged my side. "Bella what would you do?"

"Do about what?" I asked confused, eating a nugget.

"About April fools duh. If you could do anything without consequence, what would it be?

I thought about it and smiled. "Well I would volunteer at one of the most romantic restaurants in Port Angeles. Then I would slip fake engagement rings into couples wine glasses. While the girl is freaking out, I would take a picture of the guy's what the fuck face." I ate another nugget as everyone chuckled.

"That is kind of mean you know." Alice said poking the crap out of a tomato. I ate another nugget noticing how she glared at my food.

I swallowed. "Not really. The whole ring in the wine glass is a little cheesy by now. Everyone does that nowadays." Everyone at the table looked from me to Alice as if they where watching a tennis match.

"It's romantic."

"What about fishing a ring out of a wine glass is romantic?" I ate another nugget.

She bit her lower lip in thought. This small gesture always drove me insane. _No way in hell was that playing fare. _"I suppose you can do better then."

"Of course I can." I said smugly eating another nugget.

"All of those people baring witness to the love between two people. It's romantic."

She leaned forward, took one of my nuggets from my plate, dipped it in some ketchup and bit into it sensually. She leaned back chewing and once she swallowed her tongue sneaked out to clean up some ketchup on her lip.

I swallowed nervously, my throat feeling dry. Eating like that had to be a sin. It just fucking had to be. People would forget porn if they could watch Alice eat all day. "Strangers placing more pressure onto a person to say yes, is romantic?" I asked ignoring the silence from our friends.

"So how would you propose?"

"I don't know."

She chuckled. "You don't know. Somehow I expected some witty comment."

I ate another nugget and pushed the plate in her direction her. She pulled it towards her. She showed me her dimple smile before eating a nugget greedily.

"Tell us Bella, how you would propose. You can't buy Alice over with a plate of delicious nuggets and expect us to ignore the conversation." Angela remarked and Eric and Mike nodded their heads in unison.

I sighed. They were like a dog with a bone. "I will not do the restaurant thing. If I ever asked someone to marry me, I wouldn't want anything to take my attention from that person."

I stood up grabbing Alice's water bottle. "I don't want strangers to be part of a special memory that marks the start of a new beginning of my life. In short, I would only want to share that moment with the person I love."

I grunted a little as I turned the cap and smiled when the seal broke. I placed the bottle next to her elbow. "Does that answer your question?" I didn't wait for an answer as I walked out of the cafeteria. If I had to watch Alice eat another nugget, I would combust into flames.

**~.~**

It was Friday night. I was sitting alone in my room staring at photos of Alice and me. It was the pictures she made Charlie take while I was grounded. Alice and me standing side by side, her on my back piggyback style, standing with our backs together making fake guns with our hands while looking at the camera all seductively and one last one that Charlie took while we just talked to each other.

It was by far my favorite. She was standing on her knees on my bed, I was on front of her and she had lost her balance. I had reached forward instinctively and caught her. My hands were on her waist. Hers had grabbed the top of my arms. Our faces only inches apart. It was in that moment that Charlie had taken the picture.

I sighed placing the picture on my desk. I was avoiding Alice only to stare at her picture. Somehow, the picture could just not measure up to the real one. I heard a knock on the front door. That should be Billy and his son, Jacob. They always came to watch the game on Friday nights. If Jacob came along, I might as well join them. He could at least divert my attention from Alice.

I didn't move from the chair. I didn't want my attention diverted. I wanted Alice. There was a soft knock on my door. I sighed looking up. Alice stood there. Her lips pulled together in determination. She stepped into my room, closing the door behind her.

"Alice what are you doing?" I whispered my throat dry all of a sudden.

"Amber is in Hawaii." She said, unmoving in front of my door.

"So you thought you'll come over to scratch and itch?"

"Of course not!" She shouted and I flinched. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Sorry I didn't mean to shout."

I nodded afraid to say something. She bit on her lip.

_Dear Lord, help me. _

The room was filled with tension. Neither of us moved.

"Amber is in Hawaii. I'm supposed to miss her. I'm supposed to think of her all the time." She looked at me, taking a step towards me. "Yet the only person I can think of, the only person haunting all my thoughts and dreams…" She took another step. "…The only person I miss so much so that it actually hurts…." She took another step. "…Is you Isabella."

Hearing her say my name like that sent a tingle through my body that finally settled between my thighs. I squirmed a little in my seat. "I'm..." I cleared my throat. "I'm right here Alice."

She shook her head. "No you're not. You've been distant." She took another step closer. "I miss you Bella. The way you talked to me. The way you teased me, although it annoyed me at first." A soft smile played around her lips as she took another step towards me. She was almost in arms reach now.

"Isabella, do you have any idea how hard this week was for me? You were there but you weren't, you do small things for me but your not there emotionally." She took another step. "I wanted to touch you, scream at you or do something that would make you look at me."

She took a final step, our knees where touching now. She looked down on me. "I fought against it, but I'm tired of fighting." She reached forward and brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. Tingles spread down my neck.

"Tired of fighting what?" I whispered.

"I fought to keep you at a distance, not to let you in. I have Amber to think of."

I reached forward slowly resting my hands on her hips. "Alice, are you happy?"

She pulled back slightly but I tightened my grip on her waist.

"Don't ask me that, Bella."

"Stop fighting me Alice." I said pulling her towards me.

She hesitated but then moved forward, she sat down straddling me. She interlaced her fingers behind my neck. "You were right."

"About what?" I asked breathing her in. I couldn't believe that she was actually sitting on my lap.

"I was going to finish that question because I missed something else as well."

"What?"

She leaned in closer, I gasped as she stopped inches from my mouth. "Your lips…" She brushed her lips with mine, pulled back slightly and smiled by my intake of breath. "Bella, will you please kiss me?"

I looked into her blue eyes. I cupped her face, tracing her bottom lip with my thumb. Then I leaned in and claimed her lips in a slow lingering kiss. My tongue explored her mouth, causing her to moan into mine. Involuntary my hips began to stir beneath hers. I felt her hands tug slightly on my hair and I groaned. .

My hands slipped beneath her shirt and pressed into the small of her back, bringing us impossibly closer. My hips moved again reaching up to meet hers, which moved in turn with mine. The kiss grew more urgent, our moans filling the room. My hands began roaming up her back teasing her soft skin and then all the way down again over her arse, squeezing softly. She groaned and grinded her hips into mine with more force. I never wanted someone so much in my life.

"Hey Bella are you up there?" A loud gruff voice hollered from downstairs. Alice jumped up and went to sit on my bed. Her face was flushed and both of us was breathing heavily.

"Bella!" Loud footsteps sounded on the stairs and a moment later, there was a knock on my door. "Come on Bells, Charlie said you are here." Jacob? Impeccable timing, as always.

"Jake, give me five minutes ok?" I shouted back hoping that I sounded somewhat normal.

"Sure, sure. Hurry up though. We brought pizza."

"Ok Jake." I looked at Alice as we listened to his heavy footsteps on the stairs. She was still breathing heavily. "You ok?" I asked concerned.

"Ask me again in ten minutes."

I nodded and walked over to her grabbing her hand. "Tell me about it. Come on, I'll go introduce you to the spoilsport. Plus, he did mention something about pizza."

She chuckled intertwining our fingers. "Do you ever think about anything other than your stomach?"

"Yes. I'm thinking about kissing you again. I'm also thinking that right now that would be a bad thing. I might never stop." I said pulling her towards my door.

"Pizza it is then." She agreed.

"Yes… pizza." I commented dryly.

She chuckled as I opened the door for her. She paused to give me a quick kiss on the lips before dancing out of my reach.

"Come on slowpoke, the pizza is getting cold."


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own anything. I just shamelessly borrow characters and then let them have some fun.**

**A/n a big thanks goes out to everyone who reviewed. It really made my day. **

**Chapter 9**

I was sitting on the edge of the sofa, staring at the television. Some non-important show was on, but I wasn't sure exactly what program it was. I wasn't sure, because I stared at the television without actually seeing anything. I was thinking about Alice. Yesterday evening was the best night of my life. Yesterday was perfect.

_Correction, it was almost perfect. If it wasn't for Jake, it would have been fucking perfect. _

We ate pizza and laughed at Jake's silly jokes. Nobody cared that we sat so close to each other, nobody cared when Alice fake yawned and rested her head on my shoulder. Nobody cared when Alice made some lame excuse about forgetting her jacket in my room and it took us at least fifteen minutes to find it. Nobody cared when Alice left (minus the jacket) and it took me ages to wipe the smile from my face.

Nobody fucking cared.

Today however Amber was coming back from Hawaii. Alice is supposed to pick her up from the airport. Her flight landed about eight hours ago. In those eight hours, I didn't hear anything from Alice. She didn't call to tell me that she did break-up with her. She didn't call to tell me to go hide somewhere. Let's face it. Amber was going to fucking care about the fact that I was the reason Alice was leaving her.

_Honeymoon is over now, time to come back to reality. _

Screw this, I'm not going to sit here and wait for Amber to come to me. I'm going over there and I'm going to face this thing head on. I've decided a long ago (like three weeks) that I was going to fight for Alice and I was not going to throw in the towel just because Amber might want to kill me.

_More like she is going to kill you._

I pushed all thoughts from my mind and switched of the television. I grabbed my phone and the keys to my truck as I headed towards the front door. I paused, the small notepad next to the phone catching my eye. I might as well write Charlie a note informing him of where I was going. If Amber really did kill me, he would at least know where to find the evidence.

With nothing else to use as a reason to stall, I opened the front door. Cold air blasted me in the face as it began to nip away at any exposed skin it could find. Before the thought of returning to my safe warm house could invade my mind, I locked the door. I slipped and skidded my way towards my truck only landing on my butt twice. Ice really didn't help the uncoordinated.

Once my truck roared to life, I turned the heaters up. I removed my gloves waiting until my nose returned to its normal pale white color, before finally shifting the truck into gear.

Something could always happen on the way to her house. I could get a flat, the engine could just die after eighty years of loyal service or some natural disaster could hit Forks.

Twenty minutes later, I stopped in front of Alice's house. I didn't get a flat. The engine didn't fail. Heck I didn't even have to stop for a red light. As for natural disaster, who was I kidding? New York City was always the first to go. The only natural disaster here was me.

I looked at the porch. Briefly, I remembered our first kiss. Shaking my head to get rid of the memory, I got out of the truck and trudged my way towards the porch. Before my foot even landed on the first step, something hard hit me on my back.

"Gotcha." Someone yelled and I looked around in surprise.

Before I even saw anything, something cold, hard and wet hit me in the face.

"What the fuck?" I cried out removing snow from my eyes and nose.

"You're not Alice." A monster standing a few feet away said in a thick British accent.

_A monster? That can't be right. Monsters don't have accents. They normally just go roar or some shit like that. _

I squinted at the approaching form. It was big, really big and it had curly black hair. Its hands were as big as baseball mitts and as it got closer, it towered over me. I began to retreat only to slip and fall on my butt. It laughed with a loud guffaw and I looked up in fright, only to stare into the pair of greenest eyes I had ever seen.

'It' was a fucking he. A beautifully green eyed he.

"Are you ok love?" He asked, reaching a hand down to help me to my feet. He was built like a bodybuilder, minus the tan. He had a day old beard that rimmed his friendly smile. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"Only my pride. Do you always throw snowballs at strangers?" I asked taking his hand. He pulled me to my feet without much effort.

"Only the clumsy ones." He teased. "Actually I thought you were Alice, we were in the middle of a snow fight." He explained. "I'm Emmett Montgomery by the way." I shook his hand.

"Bella Swan." I said automatically trying to figure out if I stumbled into a different reality.

"The Bella Swan? Alice told me so much about you."

"I'm sorry but she didn't tell me anything about you. Who are you exactly?"

He smiled at me. "I was at the same boarding school Alice attended last year. I'm her best friend. You might say I was her Edward replacement over there."

"You know who Edward is?"

"I know about everything." From the look in his eyes, I got the idea that he really meant 'everything'.

_This was getting more and more fucking awkward by the minute. _

"Emmett, what happened to you? We were in the middle…" Alice forgot what she wanted to say as she rounded the corner of the house and saw me.

_More awkward by…the…minute._

She was wearing navy blue skinny jeans, boots that ended just below her knee. A tight fitted white turtleneck shirt flirted with you from under a thick leather jacket. There was snow in her spiky hair, obviously from the aforementioned snowball fight. She looked ravishing.

"Close your mouth." Emmett whispered and I instinctively did as I was told. "Sorry, I kind of ambushed Bella and she clumsily fell all over the place." Emmett said as Amber also rounded the corner.

_Nice save Emmett, Amber would have seen me drool over Alice. _

"Unfortunately the damsel didn't have anyone to catch her this time." I hit him in the ribs playfully (So he did now about Alice and me) while smiling goofily at Amber and Alice.

"I'm not clumsy, the ground just hates me." Emmett and Amber laughed at my silly joke and didn't see how Alice gave me a pointed look before looking at Amber and shaking her head oh so slightly.

_She didn't break up with Amber yet...shit just got more fucking awkward_

"What a nice surprise to see you here, Bella. Are you staying? We were just about to setup the guitar hero?" Amber said placing her arm over Alice's shoulder. I noticed how Alice stiffened slightly before she forced herself to relax.

I resisted the urge to forcibly remove the arm for her. "Actually I don't want to impose. I just wanted to ask Alice something about our English homework. I didn't know that she would be having any friends over." I really sucked at telling lies.

"Actually, I was a surprise. Next weekend is Alice's birthday after all. I wouldn't miss that for the world." _Wait, Alice's what?_ "And technically, Amber isn't a friend." Emmett said but I just ignored his little jab.

"It's your birthday next weekend?" I asked Alice.

She nodded.

"Why didn't you say something?"

"It's no big deal Bella. It's a yearly thing after all. I don't like making a big deal out of it."

"What?" Emmett asked in mock surprise. "Since when don't you like to party. I remember a certain incident last year. We went to that little pub near that place we like where that Irish girl you had a crush on worked…"

"Jenna." Alice said blushing slightly.

"Jenna?" Amber and I asked at the same time. Amber looked at me quizzically.

"That's it. Jenna." Emmett waggled his eyebrows. "Ordinary girl, but she had this wicked tattoo that Alice fancied." Emmett went on completely unaware of my and Amber's exchange.

"That's enough, Emmett. I've grown up since then." Alice interrupted him.

"You've grown up? You haven't grown an inch, love." We all laughed.

Alice looked like she could kill him "Why don't you and Amber go set up the guitar hero."

"The Pixie has spoken. Come on Amber. Let me go tell you about Alice's little tattoo fetish." He hooked his arm through Amber's, who was trying hard not to laugh at the way Alice was glaring at Emmett for calling her a pixie.

"Okay, you can tell me more about this tattoo girl that Alice liked." She said as he dragged her away.

The front door closed and I was reminded just of how cold it was out here. Alice was standing about an arms length away from me. She looked at her snow covered feet.

"You're into tattoos?" I asked trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Not really but Jenna's was pretty cool…" She sighed and looked at me. "Bella, I wanted to talk to Amber but Emmett showed up out of the blue and now I'm just waiting for the right moment."

"There isn't a right moment for breaking up with someone Alice."

She scoffed. "Don't you think I know that? Just give me a little time."

I sighed. I really didn't want to fight with Alice. "Look, I know it isn't easy. I can wait. Just don't make me wait forever, okay?"

She smiled and closed the distance between us pulling me into a tight hug. "I won't. I want to be with you Bella. I wanted to be with you for so long." I pulled back so that I could look her in the eyes.

Everything disappeared. I felt save in her arms. As I looked into her eyes, I tried to convey everything I felt for her into one single look. She stood on the tips of her toes and her lips was about to touch mine when Emmett's booming laugh sounded from the house before heavy footsteps (sounded like he was doing that on purpose) made their way towards the door. She let me go and took a step back just as the door opened.

"Come on you two. Amber is getting impatient." He gave us a pointed look and left the door open as he headed back inside.

"Are you staying?" Alice asked softly.

"And sit through the pain fest of Amber treating you as her girlfriend? No thanks. Cutting my wrists is a much less painful way to die." She looked away, trying to hide her emotions. "Just because I understand that you need time doesn't mean that I like it. I'll see you at school, okay."

She nodded her head and I waited until she headed inside closing the door behind her, before I turned and walked back to my truck.

**~.~.~.~.~**

"Bella, can we talk?" The last person I expected asked softly as I passed his silver Volvo. He gave me an attempted crooked smile but it was half-hearted and turned into a lopsided grin.

I felt a little sorry for him. "Sure Edward. What do you want to talk about?"

"I just wanted to say that I forgive you for cheating on me."

"O-k-ay." I said dragging the word out turning it into a question.

"Amber asked me if she could host a surprise party for Alice at my house. I wanted to tell you in person, that you are welcome to attend the party. I can be mature about this. Don't let what happened between us keep you away from what I'm sure is going to be a great party."

I wasn't sure what to make of this. Edward usually didn't do something unless he benefited from it somehow.

"You can even bring a date if you want." I knew it. He always had an ulterior motive. He just wanted to know who I was dating now.

"Well Edward. This really is unexpected but I appreciate that we can be mature about this. You can tell Amber that I won't miss this party for anything in the world."

He smiled. "I'll tell her. Enjoy your day Bella." I nodded and headed for class.

**~.~.~.~.~**

For once, I wasn't late. Alice was already seated and I smiled at her as I sat down. "How was the rest of your weekend?"

"It was fine…would have been better if I could have spent it with you."

"You're not bored with me yet?" I asked playfully.

"Not yet but I'll keep you posted." She smiled her dimple smile at me.

"Did you decide on when you are going to talk to Amber?"

Her dimples disappeared. "No, she is in Seattle this whole week."

_Hmm, so that is why Edward is helping her with the party._

I was going to say something in return but our teacher demanded we turn our attention to his boring class.

**~.~.~.~.~**

"Are you avoiding me again?" I asked from the doorway of the music class.

It wasn't really a music class. It was more a vacant space that housed a piano and some old broken chairs. Dust covered almost every surface. The piano, I'm sure, was in dire need of some tuning. Yet here Alice was, sitting on a frail bench playing mindlessly on the dust-covered piano. It was Friday. A whole week had gone by without us spending more than two minutes alone with each other.

Sure, we walked together in the hallways. The back of our hands touching shyly where no other student could see them, as we walked to the classes we shared together. We shared hundreds of lingering gazes. But we were never alone. Friends or other students always surrounded us. Even after school, Emmett was at her house and he accompanied her the two times she briefly visited me in the week. He was a likeable person. But couldn't he just give us some space?

When she wasn't at our table in the cafeteria and Angela mentioned seeing her come in here, I volunteered a bit too eagerly to come and see what was wrong.

She pressed a random key on the piano. "Not avoiding you, I just wanted to think."

I closed the door and walked over to her. "Think about what?"

"Us mainly and what I'm going to say to Amber when I see her tomorrow."

I stopped behind her. I started messaging her shoulders lightly. She moaned softly her shoulders relaxing a little. "You'll say, "Amber I found someone that makes me more than happy. You deserve someone that would make you happy but that person is not me." Then you'll call me and we'll go live happily ever after."

She turned on the bench placing her legs on either side of mine so she could face me. My hands rested on her shoulders as she looked up at me. "This isn't a joke Bella. We're talking about breaking someone's heart here."

"I'm sorry…" I placed a stray hair behind her ear. "Alice you are a nice person. You will find the right words. Don't think that there is a way to sugar coat it, because there isn't."

"You are wrong. I'm not a nice person."

I smiled at her. "You're not?"

"No." She grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me down towards her. Her lips met mine hungrily. Her tongue gently caressed my lips asking for entrance and I welcomed it without hesitation. Anyone could walk in on us. The thought of this made everything just more passionate. How I longed all week to kiss her.

I slipped an arm around her, placing my hand on her lower back. I pulled her forwards as I straightened up without breaking the kiss. Her arms slipped around my neck pulling me closer as her hands got lost in my hair.

Desire coursed through me like a burning fire. I wanted more. I kicked the bench out of our way and pushed her towards the piano. I trailed my hands down her sides, over her hips and sprayed my hands over her butt pushing her groin into mine. We groaned from the sensation. I tightened my grip and lifted her onto the piano placing her down on the keys. We barely heard the piano protesting this form of abuse.

I trailed sloppy kisses down her neck, sucking and nipping at her delicious skin. She crossed her legs behind my back pulling me flush against her.

"Bella…" She whispered as I moved my hips against hers, I could feel how wet I was. She claimed my mouth as I moaned from the friction caused by our movements as we grinded against each other. Random notes sounded from the piano as we moved.

Her hands slipped beneath my shirt and trailed up my sides. Her thumbs barely grazing the sides of my breasts making my breath hitch before she trailed them down again. My fingers dug into her back and she groaned. Desire swept away my sense of reason.

"Alice, please." I pleaded as her fingers teased me again before she moved them away trailing them down my sides.

She bit my earlobe softly before whispering. "What do you…"

BBBRRRIIIINNNGGGG!

We jumped slightly as the bell rang. She dropped her legs and I stepped away from her breathing heavily trying to ignore the throbbing between my thighs.

"I don't think the piano was meant to make music like this?" Alice said and I chuckled.

"I kind of like this music."

"Oh you do?" She teased and I smiled at her. "We should get to class."

"Or we could play hooky." I suggested.

"I would love to, but we can't." She got of the piano and made her way to the door.

"Really, you are choosing a class over me?"

"I did say that I wasn't a nice person." Alice said without looking back as she swayed her hips walking to the door.

_She was such a fucking tease!_

**~.~.~.~.~**

Did Edward and Amber invite everyone in Forks to this thing? I wondered as I entered the Cullen house. Edward had moved all the furniture in the living room to the sides and in doing so, turned the living room into a club. People were making out on the couches or on the dance floor. People were grinding against each other while others just drank cheap bear out of cheap red cups. This wasn't a birthday party. This was a teenage rebellion party.

"Bella, I'm glad you could make it." Edward screamed at me as I emerged from the dancing bodies at the other side of the room.

"How is this a birthday party? Do you even know all these people?" I shouted back.

"No but I figured the more the merrier."

_Oh you figured, that explains everything. _

"Where is Alice?"

"Don't know. She should be here somewhere…" _Really, you want to phone a friend on that one. _"Did you come with a date?"

"No, I'm going to go find Alice." I didn't wait for a reply. I might as well check the bathrooms.

Everywhere I turned someone was making out with someone. What is it with parties that made people go insane just by the thought of possibly hooking up with someone? Didn't they ever hear of STD's?

I checked all the bathrooms, the kitchen and even took my chances in checking the bedrooms. Accept for some horny teenagers, I found little else. Great, just fucking great. Edward was supposed to know that Alice didn't want to make a big thing out of her birthday. Why couldn't he just have invited a couple of her friends? Moreover, where was Amber? She is the girlfriend. She could have stopped Edward from inviting 'Forks'.

I walked back to the living room. Was it possible that there were even more people now? I felt suffocated, there was barely room to move and when you avoided one sweaty body, you just collided with another. I just needed some air.

Wait. I know where Alice is. I literally pushed my way through the crowd and sighed in relief when I finally got through the front door. I headed to my left. Esme had a little private garden here. With a roof and everything, so that even when it rained she had a place she could just relax.

I found Alice here. She sat at the edge of a fishpond, trailing her hand through the water absentmindedly.

"Careful, you might fall in." I said softly sitting down next to her.

"I figured if someone would find me it would be you." She said giving me a smile.

"I figured the birthday girl would be enjoying her own party."

"It's my party and I'll sulk if I want to." She sang dramatically.

I chuckled. "Where is Amber?"

"She is dancing with Emmett. I just couldn't stand all that people anymore."

I smiled. "You're not hiding. You're just getting some fresh air."

"See this is why I keep you around. I have full access to your witty comments." Alice said winking at me.

"Hmm, and here I was just keeping you around because you're a good kisser."

"Ugh…" She clasped her hand over her heart. "That hurt, good kisser my arse, I…" She pointed to herself. "…Happen to know that I'm a great kisser."

I smiled. "Ooh, don't get a big head now."

"See, you're not even arguing."

"Maybe because I would much rather give you a gift than argue with you." I commented dryly watching her give me a dimple smile at the mention of a present. I smiled and reached into my pocket and brought forth a small box.

She took it and lifted the lid. Smiling she removed the silver necklace from its housing. "Bella it is beautiful. Would you?"

She held the necklace toward me and with slight shaky hands I unlocked it, stood behind her and with a few well selected curse words finally got the little clip fastened.

"What do you think?" She asked turning around.

Just as I suspected, it brought out her eyes beautifully. "It's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." I said honestly implying more than just the necklace.

"Thank you Bella." She closed the distance between us and gave me a kiss.

Automatically my arms snaked around her waist. The kiss was nothing like the passionate one we shared yesterday. Instead, it was a tender kiss filled with unspoken emotion.

"What the fuck?" We both looked up in shock. Edward was standing about ten feet away, his shocked face turning quickly into one of anger.

Ah hell.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own Alice or Bella…or the other characters for that matter…so no suing. **

**Chapter 10**

"I asked a fucking question."

Alice was shocked into silence. My heart hammered away and I had to force myself to keep calm. If I screamed at Edward, someone (mainly Amber) might hear us. Dealing with one problem at a time was about all I could handle.

"Edward let me explain…"

"The only explanation I want to hear is Alice's." Edward crudely interrupted me.

Alice stepped away from me and gave Edward a pleading look. "Edward I never expected this to happen."

He snickered. "And I'm supposed to believe that. You seduced Bella."

"Now wait just a fucking minute. Alice didn't seduce anyone. I like her." I was slowly beginning to loose my temper.

"Of course you like her." Edward exclaimed. "Being with a girl is new and interesting. Once you've been with her a few times, the excitement of it all will fade and you'll see that it was only infatuation." I balled my hands into fists. He turned his attention back to Alice. "Still Alice, how could you betray me like this?"

Alice folded her arms as if to protect herself from Edward. "I fought against it. Believe me. I tried everything to stay away from her. Bella just wouldn't let me."

"That's bullshit and you know it."

"Hey, just so that we're clear on something here, you and I are not together anymore. You don't have a fucking say in the matter. Why don't you take your hurt pride and go back inside." I breathed heavily as Edward glared at me.

"You are mine."

_What the fuck? I'm his, as if I'm some possession someone can own. Hell to the no._

"No she is not." Alice said with so much determination Edward was rendered speechless. "Bella is her own person who makes her own decisions. She is not some trophy proudly on display for everyone to see. She does not love you anymore. It's time that you grow a pair and get over yourself."

I looked at her in astonishment. I've never seen her angry before. I knew she could stand up for herself, I've seen it in that alleyway when I stopped Rosalie from hitting her. I never thought that Alice could dish it out with Edward.

"Love. You don't even know the meaning of the word. You know nothing about love. Cheating on Amber and stealing my girlfriend…"

"Ex girlfriend." I corrected him.

He just ignored me. "What would Amber have to say if she knew what went on between you two just a moment ago?"

"I'm going to tell her everything, tonight. Then I'm going to give this relationship with Bella a chance. I would rather loose you as a friend…than loose her from my life." She slipped her hand into mine. I squeezed her fingers softly. I didn't think it was possible to fall even more in love with her but here I was, falling harder than ever before.

"Come on Alice, I'll help you to find Amber." She allowed me to lead the way towards a fuming Edward.

"If you think this is the end of it you are surely mistaken. I will make you regret the day you set a foot back in Forks. Mark my words. Life is going to get much harder for you around here." Edward threatened Alice as we walked passed him.

He could curse me, he could threaten me but no way in hell was he going to threaten Alice. I let go of her hand and faced Edward. I stood on my toes to look him in the eye. "Fuck you and the high and mighty horse you rode in on. What are you, the mafia? Don't forget who my father is, Edward." I glared at Edward as we stood face to face.

"Is there a problem here?" Emmett asked and I spun around in surprise. He casually leaned against the house, curiously glancing from me to Alice and Edward.

_How long has he been there?_

"No problems here, Alice and I were just leaving. Have you seen Amber by any chance?" I asked taking Alice's hand walking over to him as if nothing has happened. Meanwhile my heart was racing at a million miles an hour.

"She's inside, dancing away. I came out for some fresh air." His eyes lingered on our intertwined hands briefly. "Does trouble always follow you around Bella?"

"Do all British people love tea?" He chuckled. Before he could make some witty remark, we walked past him and headed back inside.

We began scanning the crowd for Amber. Alice found her first. "There she is. I think it's better if I talk to her alone. I'm just going to tell her I want to go home and then explain everything to her."

"Are you sure you are going to be okay?" I asked concerned.

She nodded giving my hand a reassuring squeeze. "It's time that I come clean. I meant what I said. I don't want to loose you. Breaking up with Amber is a step in the right direction."

I pulled her closer, giving her a hug. "I'm sorry your birthday turned out like this."

"Don't worry about it. I don't really care about birthdays, remember." I smiled and let her go.

"Call me after?"

"I will." She gave me her dimple smile and made her way towards Amber. Once she reached her, they exchanged a few words and made their way to the door. I disappeared into the crowd, as they disappeared out of the door.

I might as well head home as well and wait for Alice to call me. That is if I didn't go bat shit crazy in the meantime.

**~.~.~.~.~.~**

"Alice?" I asked groggily.

"I prefer to be called mom. Mother and mommy are also allowed but never mummy."

"Mom?"

"Me mom. You Bella. Also known as Isabella or Bells."

Ugh, kill me now. "Why are you so hyper at…" I glanced at my clock, "…One in the morning?"

"It's one? I thought it was like ten o'clock or something."

"Of course you did." I was still dressed in the clothes I had on last night. I must have fallen asleep as I waited for Alice to call me. My neck was killing me and I had the worst case of cottonmouth ever.

"Well you are awake now. We might as well continue this conversation."

"Was there a reason for calling me?" I asked removing my shoes with my feet.

"Does a mother need a reason for calling her daughter?"

I suppressed a moan. "At one in the morning she does."

"What is that supposed to mean? Is someone with you? Is it Alice? Is that why you said her name when you answered the phone? I didn't spoil the mood did I?"

"Mom!" I interrupted her before she could really get going. Sometimes she reminded me of a train. "No one is here with me."

"FYI, I was seventeen once too."

"FYI?" What grown woman talks like that? It irritated me to no end when people talk like that. As if saying the actual words would kill them.

"Oh get with the time. It means for…"

"Your information. Yeah, I know what it means. Why don't you stick with your time and I'll stick with mine." I rolled my eyes in exasperation.

"Oh don't get your panties in a wad, tell me what is new with you and Alice."

That reminded me. Alice never called. "Uh, well I broke up with Edward and Alice broke things of with Amber tonight. I guess we'll be a couple or whatever." I smiled at the thought. Alice and me… together… a couple. It warmed me up inside. The feeling of floating on cloud nine began to bubble inside me.

"So have you coupled yet?" And the feeling disappeared.

"No, we haven't. We've kissed a couple of times but that is as far as things went."

"Well, I guess moving slow is good as well." I really did have the weirdest mom ever. Yet somehow, I still loved her. "I'm glad things worked out for you honey. Did you tell your father yet?"

"No, I'm just waiting for the right moment." I felt guilty about keeping this from him.

I knew I could talk to him about anything. However, unlike my mom he came from a catholic family. They have believes and ideas about this kind of thing. What if he shipped me of to a Catholic school? What if I have to become a nun? No sex…ever? Hell no. I heart me some sex.

"He loves you Bella. Just talk to him." That is the grown up advice I get. Talk to him.

"Sure mom, I'll talk to him. Don't worry about it."

"I've already forgotten about it. Now, if the juiciest details I'm going to get out of this is some PG rated kissing…" _Who said it was PG rated?_ "…then I'm going to go now. Call me when things get more interesting. And by interesting I mean when you've coupled."

"Don't hold your breath." I said sarcastically. "Mom, when Phil is out of town again and you're too afraid to sleep, just rent The sound of music. That always made you relax."

There was silence on the other side of the line. "Thank you Bella but I'm not afraid of the big bad wolf."

"Sure your not. Goodnight mom."

"Night sweetie. I love you."

"Love you more."

"Love you most."

I smiled as I disconnected the line and my phone informed me that I had a text message. The missed call as well as the text was from Alice.

_**Bells, you must have fallen asleep or something. I just wanted to let you know that Amber and I are over. I can't wait to see you tomorrow. –Alice.**_

Sleep was difficult after that. A certain raven-haired pixie didn't want to stay out of my thoughts or dreams.

~.~.~.~.~

"Bella, here is someone for you at the door." Charlie shouted up the stairs.

I had just showered and was drying my hair with a towel. It must be Alice. Excitement caused butterflies in my stomach as I threw the towel on the bed and let my semi-wet hair fall down my back. I grabbed random articles of clothing and got dressed in record-breaking time. I ran out of my room and down the stairs praying that I wouldn't trip on something. I didn't. Must be my lucky day.

I opened the door with a big smile on my face and froze. My luck had just run out.

"You must be expecting a certain raven haired girl." Amber commented dryly.

_Oh, shit._

"Look I don't want any trouble." I said stepping forward forcing her to step backwards. I closed the door to give us some privacy away from Charlie.

"You think I came here to fight? Why would I do that?" Amber asked crossing her arms.

I didn't know what to say. "Uh, because…well I…because…"

"Because Alice left me for you? Or because you made a move on her while she was still with me?" Amber suggested mockingly.

"Both…I guess."

She sighed. "Walk with me Bella." She headed towards the forest.

"Should I tell Charlie that we're going somewhere?" I commented as I headed after her.

"Bella, I just want to talk. I'm not going to chop off your head or anything."

Suddenly I pictured Amber hacking away at my body leaving my carcass in the forest to be feasted on by wolves or something. No one will ever now what happened to poor clumsy Isabella Swan.

_Okay I did not need that image in my head. _

She just walked a few meters in and then turned to face me. I stopped a few feet away from her, just staying out of her reach. She might change her mind about the no harming thing.

"Alice told me everything…" She began. "At first I was angry. Angry at you. Angry at her. But most of all, I was angry with myself. I knew for a time now that Alice wasn't happy." She paused taking a breath to calm herself. "Sure she laughed and smiled but it was as if her heart wasn't in it. I also noticed that every time she talked about you how her eyes would light up and how she would seem to glow."

I shifted my weight feeling even guiltier all of a sudden.

"I knew that she had feelings for you. Like a fool I had hoped that it was only a fleeting crush and that she would get over it." She looked at me. Sadness carved into every inch of her beautiful face. "I've lost her to you before you even tried to win her."

"Why are you telling me all of this?"

She looked away as if trying to find the right words. After a few minutes, she faced me again. Her face was more peaceful now. "I care about Alice, a lot. That is why I won't stand between you two. I want her to be happy."

"That is all I want for her too." I deadpanned.

"I'm glad to hear that Bella. Because if you break her heart, we will have another talk and that one will not be as friendly as this one." She said it so normally, so without emotion that it made the threat seem even more frightful.

"Believe me that is the last thing I want to do."

"The last thing you want is another talk or breaking her heart?" Amber asked glaring at me.

"Both." I said honestly. Seriously surfer chick could teach Edward how to threaten someone.

"I'm glad we understand each other. Now if you'll excuse me, I better go." She said as she headed back the way we came.

"I underestimated you. I apologize for the way things turned out. I never wanted to hurt you." I said as she walked passed me.

She paused briefly. "I know but it is too soon for forgiveness." I didn't have anything to responds with and she didn't wait for a response. I followed her out of the forest and watched as she got in her car and drove of.

I really hoped that she would find happiness. She was a great person and didn't deserve anything less.

**~.~.~.~.~.**

I was sprawled out on my bed, laying on my back just staring at the ceiling. I was slightly more at ease. It didn't look like Amber was going to cause any trouble. Well at least that was one less thing to worry about, now I just had to tell Charlie and go public with my relationship with Alice. I was afraid of what the people at school might do. Kids, especially teenagers, can be cruel. They knew that Alice was gay. She never hid it, especially when she met Amber. Nevertheless, everyone thought that Alice was weird, so her being gay was nothing special.

I however, always just dated boys. If I were to admit that I was gay or bi or whatever, it wouldn't blow over that quickly. On the other hand, I didn't want to treat Alice like the secret mistress. I was proud to be with her and I didn't want to hide that.

"Deep in thought Bella is kind of cute." I propped myself up on my elbows and smiled at Alice where she stood in my doorway.

"Only kind of?" I teased coaxing that dimple smile from her. "Why are you standing all the way over there?" I asked and she chuckled.

She closed the door behind her and made her way over to the bed.

_Oh shit, her joining me on the bed was so not a good idea._

Quickly I sat up folding my legs beneath me, opting for the safer cross-legged position. Her perfect forehead furrowed, frowning at me as she sat down at the end of the bed.

"Are you okay, Bella?"

"Me…I…fine…totally fine." I croaked out.

"Are you sure because, you sound a little nervous."

_Get a grip Bella. _

"I'm sure. Sorry I missed your call last night. I must have fallen asleep."

She shifted a little closer before mimicking my pose. "I figured as much. Don't worry about it. It's probably a good thing that you didn't answer. I was a bit emotional after Amber left last night." I could hear the sadness in her voice. As if, I needed to feel even guiltier about Amber.

I rested my hand on her knee offering some form of comfort. "I'm so sorry Alice. Do you want to talk about it?"

She placed her hand over mine. "No. It is over. She is my past. You are my future." I got lost in her eyes. They were filled with passion and promise. She leaned forward slowly, placing her hands on either side of my knees. My heart began to race.

"Bella?" She whispered softly, her breath mingling with mine.

"Yes." I whispered back cupping her cheek.

"Do you have any idea what you do to me?" She didn't wait for a reply as she closed the distance between us.

The kiss was soft and tender. Yet the mass of emotions it unleashed on my body was making me light headed. She sucked my bottom lip into her mouth pulling on it gently with her teeth. I moaned as she pulled away.

"You are still going to be there when I open my eyes right? This isn't one of my dreams?" I asked keeping my eyes closed.

She giggled. "You dream about me?"

I opened my eyes. "Every night." I confessed.

"Probably nightmares."

I shook my head, trailing my hand up her arm. "Not nightmares, never nightmares." This time I leaned forward transferring my weight to my knees, slowly closing the distance between us.

"I'm not some monster or an evil pixie that…" Her breath stalled as I kissed the exposed skin on her shoulder.

"Oh you were evil." I said as my hand caressed the top of her thigh. "You tortured me…" I kissed my way up her neck. Her breathing became erratic. "In the most excruciating pleasurable ways…" I trailed feather light kisses on her jaw line. "It drove me insane when I woke up and you were gone…"

"But I'm here now." She whispered.

"So you are." I said smiling against her mouth before claiming her lips.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own anything. **

**A/n thank you to each and everyone who reviewed. Your feedback is very much appreciated. **

**Chapter 11**

"_Everybody's gonna love today  
Gonna love today, gonna love today  
Everybody's gonna love today, gonna love today  
Anyway you want to, anyway you've got to  
Love love me, love love me, love love"_

I sang along to _Mika_ as I foolishly danced in my room. I clutched a damp towel to my bosom as I busted some moves that would make _Mika_ cringe if he could ever see me. I felt happy ever since I woke up this morning. It felt like the joy in me just wanted to bubble out and clad everything in my world with happiness. Everything just seemed brighter and shinier. My foot caught on something and I landed on the floor with a loud grunt.

"_We'll be singing  
When we're winning  
__we'll be singing_

I get knocked down  
But I get up again  
you're never going to keep me down"

The song on my Laptop changed and I smiled as I stood up. I swear that thing knew just what song I needed to hear. With a little hobble, I kept on dancing. Somehow, through all the singing and dancing, I managed to get dressed. Switching off the music, I went to find something to eat.

Charlie was busy pouring himself a cup of coffee when I entered the kitchen.

"Morning dad, would you be so kind, as to pour me a cup as well please?" I asked giving him me best and brightest smile.

"I don't understand. Where is Bella? You know the moody teenager that resides in the room upstairs." He asked as his left eyebrow crept upwards.

"She is on vacation. She mentioned something about the Caribbean." His eyebrow crept higher. "Lots of hot pirates there you know." His eyebrow almost escaped into his hairline. I sighed. "About that coffee?"

"You are already hyper. Coffee might make your condition permanent." He said nonchalantly taking a sip from his cup.

"I'll take the risk."

He rolled his eyes and poured me a cup. "Is there any reason why you are so happy this morning?" He handed the cup to me. "You and Edward aren't back together are you?"

I smiled at the disapproval in his voice. "Relax dad. That ship has sunk. No chance of finding the wreckage, so there will be no salvaging."

His little smile of satisfaction didn't go unnoticed. I walked to the fridge. "There is someone though?" He continued with his little inquiry.

_Damn, he was like a dog with a bone. _

"There might be someone." I said from within the fridge. I grabbed the yogurt and closed the door with my foot.

I placed the yogurt and a bowl on the counter before reaching for the box of muesli on top of the cupboard. "Does this someone have a name?" He asked dryly.

I smiled as I poured some muesli into the bowl. I added a healthy amount of yogurt to the muesli and turned to face Charlie. "Of course the person has a name…what parent wouldn't give their child a name?" I said before taking a bite of my food.

Charlie huffed in annoyance. "Bella is there a reason why you don't want to tell me this mysterious person's name?"

_Yeah, you might go all kinds of crazy if I tell you that it is Alice. _

I was spared an answer when the phone rang. Charlie glared at me before picking up the phone. "Hello." His body stiffened."Ok, I'll be right over." He placed the receiver back. "Someone found a body in the woods."

"Someone we know?" I asked. In a town like this, everyone knows everyone.

"Looks like a tourist. Might be a hiking accident." He said downing the rest of his coffee. He reached for his jacket that lay on the counter. "Don't be late for school and you know… learn something."

I rolled my eyes. "Bye dad, be careful."

"I always am." He replied automatically as he disappeared out the door. I sighed in relief. That was to close to comfort. I really didn't want to discuss my sexual orientation over breakfast.

"Message from the dark side there is!" My phone's text alert sounded from my back pocket. I smiled, hoping that it was Alice who texted me. I took out my phone and my smile triple sized into a grin, as it was indeed a message from Alice.

**Thinking of you…****I can't wait to see you at school.**

I could feel my heart skip a beat. Just to know that she was thinking about me was making me all kinds of fuzzy. I quickly replied.

**I can't think of anything else…leaving now…see you in ten ;) **

I rushed up the stairs and into my bathroom. I had my teeth brushed in record time. I had just grabbed my bag when Yoda spoke again.

**Why wait that long, see you in a few seconds.**

_In a few seconds?_

A car honked outside and smiling, I dashed to my window. Sure enough, there was Alice's yellow Porsche. I waved at her and rushed out of the house, only pausing to lock the front door. I threw my bag in the back and slid into the passenger seat. The door had barely closed before Alice leaned across grabbing the sides of my face, pulling me in for a passionate kiss.

Some time later, she broke the kiss resting her forehead on mine, both of us breathing heavily. "I could get used to this." I said kissing her nose causing her to scrunch it up in the cutest of ways.

"Definitely." She agreed giving me a chaste kiss before pulling all the way back. "We better go…"

"Or we could just skip school." I suggested seductively.

She turned the key and started her car. "As much as I would love to spend the day with you and know that there is no chance of Charlie walking in on us…" (_Oh, that is not putting certain images in my head at all_.) "...I think the school will notice if both of us don't show up. Plus if they don't, Edward might point it out to them."

I sighed and fastened my seatbelt. "Queen Edward is really a pain in the ass."

"I'm hoping that, that would change with time." Alice said as she drove in the direction of the school. "How did you stand his dramatics when you were together in anyway?"

"I guess I was a little blinded by love or infatuation." She grunted. Her grip on the steering wheel tightened as she glared at the road. I jabbed her shoulder playfully. "You know that I don't feel anything for him anymore, right?"

"Do I?" She stepped on the gas and the Porsche shot past a car almost making it seem like that car was going backwards.

"Would you please drive a little slower?" She looked at me and immediately slowed the car down to the legal limit.

"Sorry, I'm sort of a speed freak."

_How did I end up falling for people that won'__t be happy unless they break the sound barrier? _

My grip on the sides of the seat relaxed. I hadn't even realized that I had instinctively grabbed onto it. "I prefer not to become a statistic on some random car accident site." She nodded concentrating on the road. "And to answer your question, I care about you Alice. Very deeply and Edward is in my past. You are part of my future."

She relaxed flashing me a quick smile. "I better be."

I rested my hand on her thigh. "So uh…about school."

"What about it?"

"How are we going to handle the whole…uh us…together…uh situation?" I hated sounding so insecure about something so simple.

I didn't want to hide the fact that Alice was my girlfriend. It was just that people are judgmental creatures by nature. If you change one little thing about yourself, they treat you differently. Equal rights and all, means shit in a school filled with teenagers. At the very least, I wanted to tell Charlie about Alice and I before the school knew about us.

"How did you want to handle it?" She asked without emotion.

_I knew this was going to be difficult._

"For now I think it would be best if we just acted like we used to. Being friends and all." I said looking out of the window. I couldn't bear looking at her. What if she was disappointed or angry?

"If that is what you want." She still sounded un-emotional almost like a robot.

I finally looked at her and sighed. "I want to hold your hand as we walk to class, maybe even steel a kiss or two under the bleachers or in some empty classroom. I want to decorate my locker with photos of you. Most of all I want to believe that I could come out and say I'm gay or Bi or whatever with no one even giving a fuck about it." I ran my hands through my hair in frustration. "Just give me some time to tell Charlie about us and then we can come out to the rest of the world."

She turned into the school lot and parked her car on her usual place. She turned the key and the low hum of the engine died. Slowly she turned to me. We stared at each other for what felt like eternity. Then she smiled her dimple smile at me.

_Yes!_

"So you don't want to keep me a secret." She asked and I sighed when she sounded like herself again.

"Alice, I don't want to hide the fact that I have the most amazing girlfriend in the world. If I could, I would shout it out for everyone to know." I said earnestly.

"Fine, then we'll be friends at school until you tell Charlie." I smiled at her. "Just remember Bella. I'm with you every step of the way. Together we can face whatever the people at school throw at us."

The windows of the Porsche were tinted black, so when I leaned forward to kiss Alice no one at the school was the wiser. I broke the kiss and grabbed my bag on the back seat.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?"

Alice giggled. "Nothing nice, I assure you." She opened her door before I could respond. I rolled my eyes and got out of the car. I waited until she walked around to my side and together we headed towards the school.

Something was off. All the students in the lot stood in groups and talked in whispers. Some looked in our direction before turning to their friends and continued with whatever they were gossiping about. I spotted a lone figure from my peripherals and I looked to see who it was. Edward sat on the hood of his precious silver Volvo. He had a smug look on his face.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

_No he didn't._

"Bella is something wrong?" Alice asked next to me.

I looked at all the students again, those who weren't gossiping, was staring at Alice and me. I looked back at Edward. He had a complete satisfying smirk on his face.

"Bella, what is it. You are shaking." I barely heard Alice. I was so furious.

"They know. Everyone knows about us." I said before storming at Edward.

"You complete fuck face. Are you satisfied now?" I screamed at him before shoving him so hard that his back hit the hood of his car.

"I wasn't satisfied in months." He quipped sarcastically.

"Bella don't…" Alice said grabbing my wrist and pulling me back. "Don't give them what they want." I looked at the other students who were watching us.

"It's clear who wears the pants in this relationship, Alice just says stop and you obey like a dog." Edward mocked.

I reached for him again but Alice held me back.

_Where did her strength come from? _

"Edward if I wasn't afraid that she might kill you, I wouldn't be holding her back. I knew you were a jerk but, do you have to be such a jackass?"

He just glared at her. Alice tugged on my hand and I forced myself to look at her. "Come on, let's just get to class. We're better than this. No need to sink to his level." She caressed my wrist with her thumb calming me somewhat. "Come on Bells."

"Yes go away. Why not go to Europe while you're at it." Edward mocked.

Alice didn't even reply as she dragged me away. Everyone stared at us not helping my anger at all.

"How can you just let that fucker get away with that?" I asked as she let go of my wrist once we were in the hallway.

"There is a time and place for everything and now is not the time, nor the place."

_Now seemed like the perfect fucking time to me. _

I breathed heavily, everyone knew. He told everyone and it was just a matter of time before everyone started judging me. "We'll get through this Bella, I promise." Alice said softly, placing her hand on my arm to comfort me.

I shook it off. "Let's just get to class. The sooner this day is over the better." I grumbled walking to English class. Alice followed me without saying anything. Neither of us looked at any of the students we passed in the hallway.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

I was still in a foul mood by the time lunch came. The most the students could do was stare at me during class and whisper with each other in between classes. I sat as far away from Edward as I possibly could in the classes we had together. I was afraid I might stab him to death with my pencil or accidentally (_totally on purpose_) cut off his favorite appendage with my scissors.

_My completely blunt scissors. _

I followed Alice as she got some food. "Don't you want to eat something?" She asked as she paid for her food, giving me a concerned look.

"Nope."

"Are you going to be like this all day?" She asked as we made our way towards our normal table.

"Probably." I said as we reached the table. The whole cafeteria turned dead quiet. Sitting in the middle of the table was a big white placeholder. Someone had taken the decency to write **Gays only** on it.

Alice reached for it when Angela spoke behind her, "Leave it Alice, I kind of like a table reserved just for us." She placed her tray on the table and sat down like she did every other day. Eric sat down beside her, resting his hand on her thigh like he always did.

Like a damn that had burst, everyone in the cafeteria began talking again. Alice and I sat down. "Angela, what are you guys doing?" I asked bewildered.

"Bella you and Alice are our friends. Why should that change because you like girls? Those stuck-up morons are just that, morons. We don't care who you like or prefer or whatever. Friends don't judge. Friends are there for each other no matter what." Eric nodded his head before stuffing food into his mouth. "Eric your food isn't going anywhere." Angela berated him teasingly.

Alice squeezed my thigh reassuringly and I gave her a week smile. "Well at least we know who our real friends are now." I said.

She nodded her head and smiled warmly at Angela and Eric. "We couldn't have asked for better ones." Angela just rolled her eyes and Eric winked at us.

"Bella it's not the end of the world. So you're out of the closet, that's a good thing right?" Angela asked before taking a bite of her hotdog.

"Only I didn't come out of the closet, I was forcefully shoved out." I commented dryly stealing a grape from Alice's tray.

"Who said I didn't want that grape?"

"Sharing is caring." I said popping it into my mouth.

"That could have been the best grape to ever cross my path and now I would never know." Alice said pouting.

"Hmm, it was quite delicious." I teased. Alice glared at me causing Angela and Eric to laugh.

"Well isn't this cozy." I sighed. A voice that childish and cold could only belong to Lauren. I turned around in my seat and saw her along with Jessica standing behind me. She looked at Angela and Eric. "I see you two have joined the gay club."

"Why? Are you jealous because you weren't invited to join?" Angela asked.

"I'm not gay." Lauren replied utter disgust on her face.

"You're not?" Angela smiled innocently at Lauren whose face was turning beet red.

Lauren narrowed her eyes at Angela. I interjected quickly. "Sorry to interrupt whatever remark you wanted to make at Angela and I'm sure it would have been filled with witty humor…" Lauren's attention was now fully focused on me. "…But did you actually want something Lauren?"

She smiled. "Actually we just wanted to tell you that you are no longer invited to Jessica's party this weekend."

I looked at Jessica who was looking everywhere but at me. "Did Jessica go mute? Why don't you let her speak for herself?"

"She doesn't want to talk to you." Lauren snapped.

"Fine, whatever. I won't come, enjoy your shindig." I turned back to the table dismissing them.

"It's a party, not a shindig." Lauren quipped.

Angela deliberately rolled her eyes smiling. Alice bit her lip to keep from laughing while Eric and I didn't care and was laughing aloud at Lauren, who looked at us as if we lost our minds. So did some other students that sat nearby and overheard our little vocal exchange.

"Lauren, a shindig is a party. Now come on, I still have to get a book from my locker." Jessica said and I heard their footsteps as they walked away.

"Well I'm in a better mood now." I said laying my hand over Alice's on my thigh. She smiled at me and intertwined our fingers.

"Good, because I think it is time that we teach these judgmental teens at the school a thing or two."

I looked at all the students that still stared at us. "Just ignore them Alice. Eventually something else will happen and they'll forget all about us. Until then we'll just have to live with it."

She stood up. "Stand up Bella." She said holding her hand out to me.

I frowned but took her hand standing up with her. Before I knew what had happened Alice had stepped forward, one of her hands on my back the other at the back of my neck. Pulling me into her, she kissed me.

Edward and I kissed in the cafeteria on occasion. Everybody does. But that is normal. A guy and girl kissing wouldn't attract too much attention. A girl kissing another girl on the other hand, that doesn't go unnoticed.

It was so quiet in the cafeteria that you could hear a pin drop. I could feel everyone looking at us. Alice pulled away and winked at me before letting me go. She climbed onto a chair and faced the cafeteria.

"Alice what are you doing?" I asked befuddled.

She just winked at me before lifting her head with purpose. "Hello everyone. Here is how it is. Bella and I are together. As in, we are a couple. So deal with it. No matter how much you stare or gossip about it, it is not going to change anything between me and Bella." She smiled down at me briefly before facing the masses again. "Just remember one thing. Judging a person does not define who they are. It defines who you are." She climbed of the chair and took my hand. Everyone was still a little shocked at her epiphany. Eric and Angela just smiled at us giving us their seal of approval.

As the cafeteria slowly recovered out of their shellshock, we opted to walk to class earlier than normal. For the first time we walked to class, hand in hand.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

"All things considered, the day wasn't that bad." Alice said as she stopped in front of my house after school.

After the cafeteria, most students stared a little less. Some of them still gossiped in the hallways and in classes. Then there were some, who treated me just as they always did. Asking what the teacher said or if they could borrow a pen. It gave me hope that when things have settled down school will become just as irritating and boring as it was before. I knew that there would always be that few that will look down on you with disgust but I could live with that. As long as Alice was whom I got in return, I could definitely live with that.

"Well, it's over now. That is all that counts. Do you want to come in?" I asked indicating to the house.

"Charlie is here, maybe you two should talk things over. Some students might tell their parents about us and one of them might tell Charlie."

"Oh shit, I haven't thought about that." I said rubbing my eyes in frustration.

"I can come with you, if you want." Alice offered.

"No, I have to tell him on my own. I'll call you later." I gave her a quick kiss before getting out of the car.

I waited until she disappeared down the street before turning to face my house. Taking a deep breath, I headed towards the unknown.

_What's__ the worst thing that can happen? _

"Dad, are you here?" I called as I opened the door.

"Yeah, in the living room." He called and I dropped my bag in the hallway.

_That's weird. The TV is not on._

"Dad, I need to talk to…" I stopped in the doorway of the living room when I noticed the second figure sitting on the couch. "Father Green, what are you doing here?"

I have only seen Father Green, Forks's only Catholic Priest, twice before. Once when Charlie's most trusted deputy got married and at another deputy's funeral.

"Charlie called me. He wanted me to talk to you about something."

"Dad?" I enquired still very much in the dark.

"I got a call from your school today."

_Oh__, fuck._

"You're not gay, Bella. My daughter is not gay!" He banged his fist on the armrest of his chair.

_What is the worst thing that can happen? I just had to ask that, didn't I?_


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, blah, blah, blah.**

**A/n. I'm cheating on you (the readers) with life and work. Sorry, but they are very jealous. I did sneak this chapter in for you so don't be too angry. **

**Chapter 12.**

"Charlie this is not what we discussed. Anger will not resolve this issue." Father Green said calmly and Charlie unclenched his fists while breathing in deeply.

Father Green smiled at me as Charlie fought to get his emotions under control. I shifted my weight to my other foot uncomfortably. I never felt comfortable when a high-up figure in any church smiled at me. Somehow, it just always came across as creepy.

"Bella is not gay." Charlie said more calmly.

"And here I just thought that I was human." I mumbled under my breath. Charlie glared at me while Father Green just sat there still smiling at me.

_Seriously, stop with the creepy shit._

"Bella sit down." Charlie said his voice laced with irritation.

I looked at the space next to Father-creepy-smiley-face and opted instead to sit on the couch next to Charlie. Rather an irritated father, than a spiritual one.

"This isn't necessary dad." I tried to reason with Charlie. I turned my body towards him focusing all my attention on him. "Just let me explain things to you."

"There is nothing to explain Bella." He huffed in annoyance as he trailed his hand through his hair. "Are you or are you not in a relationship with _that girl_?" The way he said that girl, almost as if he spat the words, stirred something inside of me. This was not just a fight to be accepted by my father. This was a fight to be with Alice as well.

"Her name is Alice, dad -" I fixed him with a cold stare, "-And yes, she is my girlfriend."

Charlie looked away with disgust. Father Green cleared his throat. "Bella, this girl is leading you astray. She is leading you on a path away from God."

I looked at the old man. His hair was thinning and grey. There were wrinkles on his pale face. The hands that clutched the worn bible in his lap were bony and frail. His point of view on gays was probably more ancient than he was. "Do you even know me? Do you know what sort of person I am? Who are you to judge me?"

"I'm a servant of God."

"Last time I checked father, servants of God was not allowed to judge others." Charlie was clenching the armrest of his chair so hard that his knuckles were turning white. "Why you're here, is beyond me. We don't go to church, Charlie goes fishing on Sundays and I was never interested."

"Are you saying this is my fault, that I should have set a better example?" Charlie almost yelled at me, he stood up and started pacing across the room.

"Charlie, this is normal. Parents always look at themselves first, thinking that they are somehow to blame for their children's choices. Parents think that they did something while raising their child that caused them to choose a different lifestyle." Charlie just ignored the Father as he continued pacing.

"It is no ones fault, dad. I just fell in love with an amazing person who happened to be a girl. I'm not doing anything wrong here." Why couldn't he see that?

"But you are Bella. Being with another woman is a sin." Father Green said trailing his hand lovingly on the bible.

I started bouncing my leg in annoyance. "May I ask you a question?" He nodded unleashing his smile on me again. Man he must have thought that he was making such good progress with me. The sucker. "If a gay couple walked into your church would you allow them to stay?"

He frowned slightly at my question. "No Bella, they are living a life of sin. It's a little hypocritical, don't you think? Being gay and still being religious."

I shrugged. "Yet you allow divorcees, drunkards and adulteresses into the church. Isn't that hypocritical too?"

Father Green opened his mouth to say something when Charlie interrupted him, "We are not here to discuss who is and who isn't allowed into a church Bella."

"No, we are here to discuss your choice of being with this girl. You are choosing to walk a path that can only lead to hell." Father Green said his calm demeanor back in place.

"Actually you two are here to discuss that. I on the other hand just wanted to tell my father that I was seeing someone and that that person was a girl. I wanted to tell my father how happy she made me. Even though I know that this would be an adjustment and that it would take some getting used to. I hope that he would accept the fact that I'm happy, when he was ready to."

Charlie stood like a statue in front of the window. He didn't look at me. He barely even breathed.

"Don't you see Bella? He doesn't want that for you. He wants you to choose the path that leads to God." Father Green shifted forward in his seat, his bible clenched firmly in both his hands. "Accept the love of God and let him show you the error in your ways."

"It's that easy?" I asked sarcastically. "I just accept God and the next time I see Alice I would not have all these feelings for her? My stomach won't feel like it is housing a thousand butterflies. My heart won't go galloping away at the speed of light."

"Don't be such a child, Bella." Charlie commented from the window without even looking at me.

_Stop being such a jerk, dad._

"Of course you will have to walk a path with God. You will have to stay away from temptation." Father Green said before I could give a voice to my inner thoughts.

"A, I knew there was a catch in there somewhere." I changed tactics. "Are you attracted to woman, Father?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Father Green you don't have to answer that." Charlie glared at me. "You will treat Father Green with the respect he deserves." I just glared right back at him.

"It's okay Charlie. I'm sure she didn't mean to offend." Father Green said smiling at me again.

_Seriously dude, cut that shit out._

"When I was still at school I had relationships. All with woman."

I nodded. "And when exactly did you decide that you were straight? Was it in puberty? Over a bowl of cereal perhaps? Maybe while you helped your father fix his car?"

"That is enough Isabella." Charlie exclaimed folding his arms over his chest.

I ignored him. "The point I was trying to make is that you keep talking about how I chose to develop these feelings for Alice." I paused and he gestured for me to go on. "I didn't choose to be attracted to girls. I just am. Homosexuality isn't a choice any more than heterosexuality is." I glared at Charlie making sure to make eye contact. "Why on earth would anyone choose to be gay? Why would I want to put myself through all the bullying I've faced just today? Why would I want to constantly be looked down on and stereotyped by people like you? Why would I willingly pick a lifestyle_, _that's such an uphill battle?"

It was quiet in the living room after my little speech. Then Father Green stood up. "Bella I can see that nothing I say today will change your mind. Just know that you will be in my prayers."

_Whatever good that will do._

He looked at Charlie. "Good day Charlie, I'll see myself out." Charlie barely said goodbye before he left.

Charlie kept staring out of the window and I just wished that Alice were here. I wished that she could take me in her arms and just hold me, comforting me by whispering in my ear that everything would be all right. That Charlie wouldn't hate me forever and that he'll love me no matter what.

"Will you just leave?" Charlie said turning his back on me.

I sighed glad that this confrontation was finally over. "I'll be in my room, just call me if…when you want to talk about it." I stood up and headed for the door.

"I didn't mean leave the room Bella. I meant leave my house. You are no longer welcome here."

I stood there frozen. He was actually kicking me out. My own father? Where was the man who carried me on his shoulders? Where was the guy who taught me how to throw a decent punch?

"Just because I'm gay? You're kicking me out because I have feelings for a girl?" I was shaking, my hands balled into fists.

"No. I'm kicking you out because you are no longer my daughter." He said it without emotion, his back turned to me so that I couldn't see his face.

Tears began falling down my face. "You are my father. You're supposed to love me no matter what?" I forced myself to swallow away my emotion.

"Just leave Bella. I don't want you here. Go to that Jezebel. She stole my daughter away from me."

"She didn't steal me away from you, you threw me away." I ran to my room, throwing random clothing into a duffel bag and stormed down the stairs. I grabbed my schoolbag on the way out, slamming the front door behind me. As I stumbled to my truck, I pulled out my phone and speed dialed the one person that loved me no matter what I did.

I listened to the dial tone as I threw the bags in the back of the truck before getting in.

"Hello." She answered just as I shut my door.

"Mom," I sobbed. "I need your help."

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

I was still crying by the time I stopped in front of Alice's house. My mother was catching the next available flight to Seattle. She insisted that she wanted to speak to Charlie face to face. Plus, she said it was about time she met my girlfriend. Maybe she could do something about the PG rated kissing.

I knocked on Alice's door and I waited for like two heartbeats before the door opened. Alice took one look at me and pulled me into her arms. I balled her shirt in my fists at her lower back, clutching on to her as if I might loose her. I buried my face in her neck, breathing her in. She rubbed comforting circles on my back, whispering to me that everything was going to be all right.

I don't know how long we stood there, she didn't move and I didn't want to. Finally, I stopped crying. I let go off her, my hands hurt a little when I unclenched them. "Sorry for ruining your shirt." I mumbled eyeing the tearstain on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it," She gently removed the last traces of tears from my cheeks with her thumbs. "That is what shops are for."

I chuckled softly. Then I remembered that Charlie kicked me out and I stopped. "What is it?" Alice asked concerned.

"He just kicked me out. He said I wasn't his daughter anymore."

Alice sighed taking my hand. "That is foolish. You will always be his daughter. I'm sure you can stay here until he comes around. My parents won't mind. You'll just have to stay in the spare bedroom of course." She led me into her house. I could hear a TV playing in their living room.

I paused and Alice glanced back concerned. "Am I even presentable? I mean, I did just have a snot-fest in your doorway."

She rolled her eyes before pulling me into the kitchen. She let go of my hand and opened a drawer. Seconds later she handed me a Kleenex, rather shyly I blew my nose while she ran water into the sink. After depositing the Kleenex into the bin, I faced her and she stepped closer. "Close your eyes." I did as she asked and she pressed a warm cloth to my closed eyelids.

I relished in the comforting warmth the small cloth provided. Once both eyelids received attention, Alice planted a sweet kiss on my lips. "You Bella could never be anything but beautiful. Now come on." She took my hand again and led the way to the living room.

We rounded a corner and I smiled at the sight before me. Emmett was sprawled out on the biggest couch in the room. Alice's parents were sitting on a love seat together, a bowl of popcorn between them. All of them looked up as we entered the room.

"Did someone run over your puppy, love?" Emmett asked.

"No, I just got kicked out of my house by my father." I said and instantly Alice's mother stood up and pulled me into a hug.

"That would have been my second guess." Emmett said and I just rolled my eyes.

"Bella honey, you can stay here for as long as you want. I'm sure your father will see he made a big mistake in the morning. Just give him time to digest everything." Alice's mother said hugging me even tighter.

"Dear she needs to breathe. Bella you can stay in the guestroom, its right across from ours. Just to let you know, I'm a very light sleeper." Alice's father commented before stuffing a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

He had salt and pepper black hair that was thinning at the top. He was a short, thin man. His face was open and kind. Behind his small round glasses, a pair of blue eyes was studying me. They reminded me so much of Alice's eyes.

"Thank you, sir. Alice you heard your father, no sneaking into my room tonight." Everyone laughed and Alice turned beat red.

"Well Alice, we better start with dinner." Alice's mother said giving me one final hug.

"I can help with that." I offered but she just shook her head and pushed me towards the couch.

Alice mumbled something and after giving my cheek a kiss, followed her mother to the kitchen.

"Make yourself at home Bella, she'll ask for help if she needs it." Alice's father said patting the space next to him. I sat down just as something white caught my eye. Emmett's hand was heavily bandaged.

"Emmett what happened to your hand?"

"You sound so concerned." He mocked me.

"Hearing something that is not there are the first signs of going insane you know." I teased him right back.

"Maybe you should be worried then. Who knows, I might have a psychotic break."

"Or maybe you should just tell me what happened to your hand." I suggested, glancing at Alice's father who was chuckling to himself. "Or maybe someone beat you up and the story is so embarrassing you don't want to share with the class." I fished.

"Hardly. Fine you want to know what happened. I have Perthes' Disease. I might loose my hand." He nursed his hand to his chest, looking sad.

"Nice try Einstein but Perthe's Disease has to do with your hip bone." I informed him and I heard a soft laugh from Alice's father.

Emmett pursed his lips together looking me over. "Okay little miss know it all, I have Hepatic Lipidosis. I will not loose my hand but I can loose the use of my pinkie."

_Wouldn't that be a shame?_

I sighed. "Emmett the last time I checked you are not a cat or a dog. And your liver is healthy."

"You knew that one?" Emmett asked astonished. By this time, Alice's father was laughing aloud.

"Always the tone of surprise."

"You are such an arse." He sighed dramatically. "I went to say goodbye to a friend."

I arched an eyebrow. "Some friend you have. You know there is this little something called a handshake. You might want to try it sometime. It might help save the function of your pinkie."

Emmett away clearly not impressed. "Well Bella, you are the first one to silence Emmett. I think I like having you around." Alice's father said giving me a smile.

"That makes two of us." I smiled as I looked over at the doorway. Alice was leaning against it. She flashed her dimple smile at me.

"Come on Bella. I'll show you your room.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

Alice looked so cute when she slept. She was lying on her stomach, her arms tucked under her pillow. She looked so peaceful, I felt guilty for having to wake her. I gently placed one knee on either side of her, then supporting myself on my arms I leaned forward kissing the exposed skin on her shoulder, her cheek and finally her forehead.

She groaned softly turning on her back in the limited space between us. "I thought you weren't allowed to sneak into my room." She smiled at me.

"There was zero sneaking, I was sent to wake you. Although I think I would much rather join you."

She grabbed the front of my shirt pulling me towards her. "Then why don't you?" I smiled closing the distance between us.

"I'm afraid I might never leave." I whispered against her lips before claiming them with my own.

What started as just a sweet lazy kiss quickly turned into heated passion. I forced myself to pull away from her. She pouted, "Your father was the one who sent me, don't let us give him a reason to quick me out." She rolled her eyes but let go of my shirt. I got of the bed pulling the cover with me.

"Hey." She protested grabbing onto the bedding. "I'm going to need that."

"No, you need to get up." I said enjoying our little tug of war.

After realizing that she was not going to win this one, she gave in, "Fine I'm up." She dropped the bedding and slipped out of bed. Only now did I notice what she was wearing, a black satin nightdress that didn't leave much for the imagination.

"My God you are beautiful." I said dry mouthed.

"No, I'm not. My hair isn't washed, I'm dressed in pj's and I'm not even wearing make-up." She mumbled trying to fix her bed hair.

I smiled. "Well let's ask the judges shall we?" I looked to the side and nodded my head dramatically. "Yup, they agree. You look beautiful."

"Very funny, Bella."

I just laughed and winked at her before I left the room so that she could do whatever she did in the mornings.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

School was surprisingly more normal today. Some students still stared and gossiped, some still shunned us and someone stuck a paper to my back saying **I like pussies**.

_The__se people vote, they live and they procreate. It's a sad cycle._

The real shocker of the day was the fact that Edward had a broken nose and a lovely black eye (the best look for him in my opinion). Apparently, he got hit in the face by a baseball. Personally, I think Emmett was the pitcher. Saying goodbye to a friend, my ass.

"Are we expecting company?" Alice asked as we stopped in front of her house. An unknown black Mercedes was parked on her usual spot.

"I my word, she is here." I flew out of the car and ran to the porch. The front door flew open, revealing my mother. She stood there with open arms and I didn't hesitate running right to her. She engulfed me in a bear hug.

"Oh my baby girl, I missed you so much." She said squeezing me extra hard. I relaxed as her familiar Channel No.5 perfume settled around me.

"Don't call me baby girl." I replied automatically.

"I'm your mother. I carried you for nine months, nursed you, raised you and kissed all your booboo's better. I call you anything I damn well please."

_Did my mother just say booboo?_

She finally let go of me. I noticed Alice standing behind me. I took her hand and pulled her slightly forward smiling at my mother. "Mom, I would like you to officially meet Alice."

My mother smiled and immediately gave her one of her bone crushing hugs. "It's nice to meet you Alice. Bella's told me so much about you."

Eventually we made it inside where we joined Alice's mother in the kitchen. Each one of us had a piece of freshly baked chocolate cake and a cup of tea.

"Did you talk to Charlie yet?" I asked turning the conversation a little more serious.

"I did. I gave him a few things to think over. This chocolate cake is divine, Mary. You must give me the recipe." My mother said as she placed another forkful of cake into her mouth.

"Thanks Renee, it's actually Alice's recipe." Alice's mother said politely.

"Really? You had better marry her, Bella. Marry her and force her to feed you cake all day."

Alice arched her eyebrow but I just rolled my eyes. I was used to my mother's quirkiness by now. "Please stay on topic mother. What exactly did you say to Charlie?"

She sipped some tea. "Well I told him that he was your father and that there was no conditions to a fathers love. Then he said something about me not seeing things from his point of view. So I said I really wanted to but I couldn't stick my head that far up my ass. Then things naturally got a little heated. We shouted, we cursed and I think a pan was involved too. Though it might have been a very small pot…" She pondered that for a few minutes while everyone just stared at her. "- Anyway I finally asked him if he loved you now any less than he did when you were born and made a very dramatic exit."

"So we are about at the same place we were yesterday. Except now he is mad at two Swan women." I clarified while she finished her cake already eyeing what was left of the cake, contemplating if she should have another piece.

"Not two Swan women, his daughter and his ex-wife. He is supposed to be mad at me. I think I finally tilted things to the way it is supposed to be." I grunted my opinion on that little statement causing Alice and her mother to chuckle. "Bella eat some cake, it will make you feel better.

"Mother if the universes problems could have been solved by cake bakers would be millionaires by now."

"Or everyone would be fat." Alice pointed out. Even I had to smile a little at that.

"I didn't say it would solve your problems, I just said it would make you feel better."

Somehow, I doubted it but I speared a piece of my cake with my fork. "Bella I'm sure your father will come around." Alice's mother said patting my hand lovingly.

I don't know if it was the cake or if it was the fact that I was surrounded by people that cared about me, but I did feel a little better.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

I was on my way to the bathroom when I heard my mother's voice come from the kitchen.

"You make her happy, you know."

"I try my best. It's not really hard considering that she makes me extremely happy too." Alice answered and unconsciously I paused in the hallway.

"And how do I know that you won't break her heart?" My mother inquired.

"Actually, I'm afraid that she will break mine. Bella is the most amazing person I know, even if she doesn't realize it. I'm afraid that one day she will wake up and realize that she can do so much better than me."

_What? Was she kidding, there is no one better. How can she even think such a fucking ridiculous thing?_

"I won't worry too much about that if I was you. I know my daughter and the way her face lights up when you enter the room, is a sure sign that she only has one keeper of her heart."

_Thank you mother, for once, you're actually very tactful. _

"Did she ever tell you about her first kiss?"

"No. Was he handsome?"

"No he was green and covered with mucus. She was five years old and had kissed a frog believing that he would turn into a prince. She kept him around for days. I think she called him Eric or something." Alice laughed aloud.

_And you just had to spoil everything. Parents, you can never completely trust them._

A slight pressure down south reminded me why I was in the hallway in the first place. I tiptoed to the bathroom not wanting to alert them of my presence.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

Three days later Alice and I waved from the porch, as my mother drove back to Port Angeles. After lots of late nights and millions of embarrassing stories about me, she had to go back home. Phil had the weekend off and she wanted to spend some quality time with him. She had stayed at the local hotel (Old four-story building) but spent most time with me at Alice's house. Charlie had yet to make an appearance.

For the first time this week Alice and I was completely alone. Emmett had left two days earlier promising that he'll visit again. Her parents had gone to Seattle for the day. It was raining and I smiled as her hand slipped easily into mine.

"Do you know what one of the things on my bucket list is?" I asked Alice as I turned to her.

"You have a bucket list?" She asked curiously.

"Yes, it's still a work in progress."

"That is a little morbid you know." Her thumb caressed the soft flesh of my palm making my heart flutter.

"Maybe but so is life. Do you want to know what one of the things on it is or don't you?"

She paused for a moment thinking it over. I stabbed her side playfully. She smiled, "Of course I want to know."

I pulled her down the steps and into the rain. "I've always wanted to dance in the rain with someone special." I slipped my hands to her sides pulling her close. Automatically her arms went around my neck. I could feel her heart beating against my chest through her thin t-shirt.

I used that as a rhythm and started swaying slowly. "You know that dancing in the rain may be romantic in movies but it has one fatal flaw." She said resting her head on my shoulder. We were already soaked through by the rain.

"What might that be?" I asked slipping my thumbs under her shirt, caressing her soft skin.

"Colds and flu's." I chuckled but my humor was short lived as I lost my balance and we fell backwards. Alice fell on top me. "And clumsiness as well." She said her face only inches from mine.

My breath caught in my throat, my mouth dried up. One of her legs was between mine, my arms still around her back as I instinctively protected her from the fall. Our breasts were pressed deliciously together and as the atmosphere between us thickened, her breathing sped up. Her eyes were sparkling with an intensity that I have never seen before.

We both leaned forward at the same time, her tongue immediately asked for entrance and I turned my face to the side parting my lips to give her an all access pass. My hands traveled down her back and over her jean glad ass. A cupped her perfect butt and squeezed with a ferocity I didn't know I had. I groaned as the motion caused her thigh to press into my sex, my hips bucking in response.

She kissed down my neck as one of her hands sneaked under my shirt. Suddenly she pulled away from me. I groaned in frustration as I opened my eyes. Both of us were breathing heavily, Alice's eyes was filled with lust as she looked down on me.

"Bella-" She hesitated, studying my face. "I think-" She paused again. "Do you…" She rephrased. "…want to take this to my room?"

Instinctively I knew that it wasn't just a simple question. She wanted to give me an out. That if I felt like we were moving to fast I had the option of stopping this here and now. I knew she wanted me, I could see it in her eyes. Yet she was willing to go at my pace. I tried to give words to the feelings I was feeling but I couldn't. It just felt like my heart could burst, as if my chest wasn't big enough to contain it.

I nodded my head and she stared at me for a few more seconds before standing up. She held out her hand to me and I took it without hesitating. She led the way to the house, not saying a word. No words needed to be said. She opened the door to her room and led the way inside. I shoved the door closed with my foot at it had barely shut before I was pinned to it. Alice kissed me as her body pressed up to mine immediately.

My mouth gave way to hers. Desperate moans filled the room as wandering hands explored and caressed each other's bodies. Our breathing was erratic. I moaned when I felt warm hands slip under my shirt, her hands caressing my sides as she moved the wet material up my skin. I raised my arms above my head. The cold air hit me as Alice took my shirt off. She tossed it to the side as she trailed kisses along my exposed collarbone.

I tugged at the bottom of her t-shirt and she moved a little away from me allowing me to remove her shirt. I tossed it eyeing the black lacy bra restricting my view but not hiding Alice's perfect breasts. I leaned forward kissing down her neck. She threw her head back as a soft moan escaped her. I kissed my way down to the small valley between her breasts. I trialed my hand up her side, making her shudder. Her breath caught when I started kneading her breast only to groan when I started sucking on her hard nipple through the fabric of the bra, giving my attention to her other breast. My other hand slipped behind her back, fumbling slightly with her bra. Finally, it snapped open and I discarded the offending object.

"God you are beautiful." I said before she slipped her hands behind my back.

Her mouth was on mine, the kiss demanding. I felt like my whole body was on fire. Until I felt the cool air, I didn't even know that she had removed my bra.

"God," Alice breathed into my mouth.

Her hands cupped my ass, pressing me even harder into her. I gasped as our hard nipples rubbed against each other. I could have come from just that contact. I felt a hot mouth on my neck. I thrust my head back as she licked her way down my throat and along my collarbones.

"Bed." We nearly fell as I pushed her to the outspoken object.

We never broke the kiss. I fell on top of her, as the back of her knees hit the bed. I pushed myself up and she scooted to the centre of the bed. I followed her claiming her mouth once I reached her. She pushed softly on my shoulders and I allowed her to turn us over. My arms circled her waist, pulling her on top of me.

Her leg roughly pushed mine apart, pressing into me. I moaned as her lips went to my neck as her thigh pressed into my aching sex. I raised my own thigh against hers. Alice's lips found mine again, one of Alice's hands cupped my breast. The pleasure filled my body, shooting straight south. Alice pushed herself off me. She tugged of my jeans and underwear, kissing the exposed skin as she worked her way down. She growled in frustration at my shoes and I laughed using my feat to remove them. She tossed the jeans across the room and I removed my socks as she got rid of the rest of her clothing.

We looked at each other and I swore I forgot how to breathe. She was awe-inspiring. Her body was beautiful. She literally took my breath away.

"God, you're gorgeous," she hissed, taking me in.

"You're-" I had to pause to find the right word. "I think the only way to describe it is, gulp."

She blushed and I couldn't stand the distance between us. I reached up, grabbed her around the neck and pulled her to me. I arched up into her as our fully naked bodies touched.

"Alice," I moaned as her mouth found my neck.

She continued down my neck, finding the hollow of my throat. I tangled my hands in her hair as she moved further down. I sucked in a breath at the sensations she caused as she began to suck my nipple.

"Yes." I moaned as my fingers massaged Alice's scalp.

Her fingers replaced her mouth as she moved to my other breast. My hips began to rock against her thigh. My hands began exploring down her back. Her skin was warm and soft under my touch. Alice's mouth left my breasts and worked its way across my stomach. She nipped and sucked, making me thrash around with want. Her hand followed the path of her mouth, before reaching down.

"Please, Alice." I begged.

Her fingers found my most sensitive spot almost immediately. My hips jumped as she began to rub my clit. She swallowed one of my moans as she kissed me. She slipped two fingers inside of me, my back arched and I cried out when she started pumping in and out of me. My hips moved with her hand, finding the rhythm easily. It took only moments before my body stiffened. I fisted the bed sheets in my hands as I cried out.

"My god," I panted as she slowly took her hand away from me.

She moved back up to lie beside me, kissing my open mouth. I pushed her onto her back. I made my way down to her breasts. I latched onto a pink nub, eliciting the most beautiful sounds from her throat. As I sucked, I followed Alice's example and made a slow trek with my hand down between quivering thighs.

"Wow," I breathed, "So wet."

"Come here," She said, near breathless as she pulled me to her mouth.

My fingers still exploring, found her clit making her jump. I chuckled into her mouth as I continued caressing her swollen clit. She began to pant into my mouth, her hips rocking steadily as my fingers continued to play, slowly bringing her to her climax. I guided two fingers inside of her.

"Fuck." Alice breathed, sucking in a breath as I slid inside easily.

I began to slowly pump in and out of her. Her heavy breathing was constant now, she urged me on with cries and low moans. Finally, her back arched and she came, my name falling from her lips.

I rode her orgasm out with her before removing my fingers. I lay down next to her, holding her in my arms.

It felt like I've finally come home.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything. I'm not rich either so you won't get anything even if you sue.**

**A/n Yes I know it's been like a month since I updated this story. Life has just been a bitch. My grandfather passed away so I wasn't really in the mood to write a happy ending. Sadly, this is the last chapter of this story. It has been a privilege sharing this story with you and on that note; I would like to thank everyone who left a review. Your insights are very valuable and helped form this story. Right, on with the story. **

**Chapter 13**

Everyone has that one place where you feel the safest. Like nothing on earth can break through that shell. Where everything is placed on the back burner and just for that instant, in that moment you have this serene feeling building up inside of you. Somewhere you can be you and only you. There are no expectations, no judgments or prejudices. Just the possibility of time standing still and impossible thoughts fill your head.

Everyone has a place like this. Mine used to be this strange tree in La Push. Well mine and Jacob's, but mostly mine. His would be his garage where he is currently rebuilding some old dinged up car. Used to be. See these places can change. Just as we change as a person, these places change as our perception of what makes us feel safe also changes. Now the safest place for me is in Alice's arms.

I rather find this ironic, taking into account that she is five foot two and weighs nothing more than ninety pounds, if not less.

_You're a fucking moron if you think that will stop her from kicking your ass. _

"What is so funny?" Alice asks bringing me out of my reverie.

We are supposed to be doing homework. We were seated at the table, our books open in front of us, and pens in our hands but neither of us are actually doing any homework. Instead, we are sharing earphones listening to music on Alice's Ipod. I was tapping my pen absentmindedly to the beat of 'Little lion man' by 'Mumford and sons'.

"Oh nothing." I said, "Not anything you'll be interested in anyway." I discarded the pen and sat back in my chair folding my arms across my chest.

She narrowed her eyes at me. Then accepting my silent challenge, she leaned a bit forward. "Try me."

"You really want to know?" I asked and she immediately nodded her head. "Are you sure you can handle it?"

She rested her chin on her hand. "I know your mind is a dark abyss of craziness and obscure thoughts but I'm sure I can pretty much handle anything you come up with."

I contemplated that for a second. "Well if you insist..."

"I do."

"Okay. You've been warned." I let my words hang for a couple of seconds while she just looked at me blankly. "Sex. That is what I was thinking about."

"Liar." She commented not even batting and eyelash.

"Who says I'm lying?"

"Honey, you were smiling, this soft sweet smile. Sex, especially sex with me, will not make you smile sweetly. You'll be horny but you won't be smiling sweetly."

I shrugged. "Who said it was with you?"

She opened her mouth and then quickly closed it again. She composed herself, "Well whoever it was obviously wasn't any good then."

I smiled. "Well no one compares to you."

"Then why daydream about it?" She asked a little too quickly.

"Jealous are we?" I teased.

"Of course, the only person you should be having fantasies about is me?"

I chuckled. "Who said anything about fantasies? Fantasies are erotic and those, my dear, are solely reserved for you."

She scoffed. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"I hope so, since I was only teasing." I removed the lone ear peace and got up, making my way towards her. "I wasn't even thinking about sex."

"You weren't?"

I shook my head smiling as I sat down on her lap. I slipped my arms up and around her neck. "No, I was thinking about you silly. I always think about you."

"You do?" She asked as she slipped her arms around me, her hands resting on my lower back.

"Yes dummy. I was thinking about how safe I felt in your arms. Why the doubts?" I asked intrigued. Why would she doubt the effect she had on me? She looked away, her brows furrowing. I softly placed two fingers under her chin forcing her to look at me. "Alice, talk to me."

She looked at me, her soft blue eyes insecure and uncertain. "I'm scared." She whispered.

"Of what?" I was on my guard.

_Was someone threatening her? Did something happen__?_

"I'm scared that you'll leave me. Ever since we started sleeping together, I've been afraid that you will get tired of your new toy and leave. The novelty of me will wear of and you'll decide to go back to an easier lifestyle. You will just be all, "Hey this isn't really for me. Thanks for the memories but I'll just go back to my heterosexual life now" and I will be left with only sweet reminders of our time together."

I few moments passed between us and then I leaned forward and kissed her. I tried to kiss away all the doubts and insecurities. The kiss was sweet and let loose feelings inside my chest, making me wonder if it was even big enough to contain it all.

We broke apart and I placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "There is one fatal flaw in that little fear of yours." I said looking into her warm eyes. "If I go back to being straight, I can't be with you and there is nothing I want more than being with you."

"Really?" She asked softly.

"Nope not really, I'm just saying that with the hopes of getting lucky tonight." That got a chuckle out of her. "Of Course I mean it."

She smiled, dimples playing in her cheeks. "So you like fantasies huh? Mind sharing one?"

_Oh shit, me and my big mouth._

I got up and backed away from her. "Not really, no."

She stalked towards me. "I can always make you." She threatened playfully.

"I'm not afraid of you." I taunted.

"You really shouldn't have said that." She made a grab for me but I dodged her and made a beeline for the door. From the giggles behind me, I knew that she wasn't far behind.

That night when I crept into her room, we did not have sex. Instead, she held me, our limbs intertwined as we just talked the night away. I could not help but think that this was nice too.

**~.~.~.~.~.~**

"That bitch!" I exclaimed as I walked into the living room.

Alice was sitting on the two-seater watching some fashion show on the TV. I sat down next to her. With a quick movement, she shifted her body towards me placing her sock covered feet in my lap. She settled her back against the armrest while turning down the TV.

"Who is a bitch?"

"Lauren Stanley." I spat out. "She nonchalantly walked up to me in her mini and …"

"Mini skirt." Alice interrupted me.

"What?"

"It's called a mini skirt."

"There wasn't a skirt in that way to little fabric she was wearing. There barely was enough fabric for a mini."

She rolled her eyes. "Now who is being a bitch?"

"Stating the truth does not make me a bitch."

"Uh huh." She commented dryly.

"Anyway, she walks up to me in her mini…" I waggled my eyebrows at Alice. "Popping gum all the way. Seriously talk about trailer trash." This time Alice gave me a look. "What? Do you know how irking it is when someone pops there gum the whole time?"

"About as a annoying as a certain silver Volvo driver?" Alice mumbled and I smiled nodding my head in agreement.

I started messaging her feet. "Exactly. Anyway, she hands me this brochure for her catholic church. Telling me how it is her Christian duty to lead me back to straight and narrow or some shit like that."

"I can't believe it."

"I know right. Who is she to preach to me about the straight and…"

"No, I mean I can't believe that she actually belongs to some church. I always thought she had secret cult rituals where she tortures little voodoo dolls of us."

My hands on her feet stills as I stare at her. _Sometimes she scared me._

"I'm ignoring that tit bit of information for now." She just gave me a 'what the fuck' look before shrugging her shoulders. "Back to the story, I told Lauren where she could stick that brochure and walked out of the library. Just as I'm about half way to the entrance she shouts much louder than you can imagine, "Bella the Lord will always love you. You're not gay, you're just confused." Naturally everyone is looking at me at that point."

"Well she definitely has a flare for the dramatic I'll give her that much."

"Yeah well I gave her the teenage salute." I said rising my middle finger, "And waltz out of there without looking back."

"That my girl." Alice proudly proclaimed giving me my favorite smile.

I sighed resting my head on the back of the couch. "Sometimes I wonder what it would take to live a long happy life."

"Try not to die." Came Alice's sarcastic reply.

I was about to give her a smart answer when the doorbell rang. "Are we expecting anyone?" I asked.

"Not that I'm aware of. Why don't you go get rid of whoever that is and I'll find us a movie to watch." Alice said removing her feet from my lap.

"Fine, we're not watching Bridge to Terabithia again though. I'm not in the crying mood today." I got up as the bell rang again. "Yeah, yeah I'm coming."

"How about Kill Bill?" Alice inquired.

"Sure, sure." I said as I walked out of the room. The doorbell had rung five times by the time I reached the door. "Seriously dude, impatient much? What is your…" My sentence trailed off as I opened the door and none other than my father smiled sheepishly at me.

"Charlie?"

"Usually you just call me dad." He joked nervously. He jammed his hands in his pockets a sure sign that he was way out of his comfort zone.

"That requires you to be an actual dad."

He flinched as if I've hit him. "I guess I deserve that. Look, can we call a truce? I just want to talk to you."

_Why __now?_

"You want to talk to me without Father Green? Is he hiding somewhere? Or is he going to pop out behind some burning bush or something?" I knew I was being difficult and un-respectful but I just didn't trust Charlie. I have not heard a word from him since the day he kicked me out of the house.

"He's not here. I just want to talk. Really, just you and me. I have missed you, Bells." My heart ached seeing him so lost and awkward.

"Fine." I mumbled and slipped around him. I sat down on the porch bench watching the ever-falling rain, as I waited for him to join me.

He sat down and followed my example of staring at the rain. The silence was uncomfortable, both of us not wanting to open the can of worms. Then finally, he spoke. "Bella, I'm sorry."

Momentarily I was blindsided. That was the last thing I thought he was going to say.

"I should never have called in Father Green. I should have accepted you and I should have had your back no matter what. I was just so angry. I felt like a failure and when your mother came here, I felt even worse. I thought that maybe if I never divorced her you might have turned out differently. Maybe if I remarried, everything would have been different."

_That was the dumbest fucking thing I have ever heard._

"So what changed?"

"Someone called me yesterday. They said that you are a dyke and that you're a devils child. They said that I should be ashamed. Then they hung up."

_What the fuck? Seriously? __The anonymous caller thing was so fucking childish._

"The first thought that ran through my head was that I wanted to have one of my deputies trace that call. Then I wanted to take my gun and go scare the shit out of the person that would even dream of thinking something like that about you." He turned towards me and took my hand in his. "That is when I realized that even though I might not understand this, it doesn't mean that I'll stop being your father. I still love you and no matter who you love, I will always love you."

I smiled and squeezed his hand. "Even if that person turns out to be Alice?"

"Yes, although Bells. I think that she is a real handful. She almost bit my head of this morning."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

He looked away sheepishly. There was even a little blush on his cheeks. "Well she came to see me this morning. She said that I was being and ass and that I was going to loose you if I waited any longer to make things right with you."

"She said what?"

"Then she said that the real shame in this situation is that I needed you more than you needed me. She is right, Bella. You are all I have left." I rolled my eyes and gave him a hug. He hugged me back awkwardly. "You know, when you were born and I held you for the first time your mother told me something. She said that having a daughter is much harder than having a boy."

I pulled away so that I could see his face. "Why?"

He smiled. "Because she said, if you have a boy you only have one penis to worry about. But if you have a girl you have the whole world's penises to worry about."

A creepy shiver ran down my spine. "That is only something mom would say."

He laughed and for the first time since he showed up he looked more like himself. "Yes it is. I had better go. I have the late shift tonight." He stood up and walked towards the steps. Halfway there he turned around. "Bella, just so you know…you can move back in whenever you want. And that pain in the ass girlfriend of yours can visit whenever she wants."

I smiled. "Yes she is a pain in the ass. But, she is my pain in the ass. I will be back first thing tomorrow morning. I'm sure that house would need some cleaning. Dad I have one condition though."

"And what is that?"

"You don't ever say the word penis again."

He grinned. "You got it. I'll see you tomorrow then." I nodded and he waved before dashing to his cruiser. I waited until his tail lights disappeared.

"You can come out now, Alice." I said aloud and she danced through the door sitting down next to me.

"A pain in the ass, am I?" She asked as I rested my head on her shoulder.

"Huge." I said. She placed a soft kissed on my head before resting hers on mine. "Thank you, Alice." I said softly.

"For what?"

"Everything."

**15**** Years later**

"She is disrespectful."

I sighed turning my attention to Dominique who was staring out of the window. Sometimes being the school principal was the worst job ever. Dominique had parental issues. Her problems at home led to her bleached hair, fake tattoos, too much eyeliner and cynical look at life.

"Dominique, would you like to voice your side of the story here?"

Slowly she faced me. "Mrs. Sparks asked me what you called a person who kept on talking when people are no longer interested. So I answered a teacher".

I spluttered and bit the inside of my cheek to keep me from laughing. I looked down and rearranged some papers on my desk. When I had my emotions under control, I faced Mrs. Sparks who was glaring at me.

_Guess __I didn't hide my amusement that well after all. _

"This is not funny Mrs. Cullen." She said her voice filled with ice.

_No, it is hilarious._

"Sorry." I looked away from the surly grey-haired teacher and focused on Dominique instead. I suppressed a sigh, as she didn't even try to hide her cocky smile at all. "Was that all that happened." I inquired.

"No, she then asked how she should convey the news to my father that I'm failing her boring English class. So I told her to send him a telegram that read: Past year's performance repeated."

I really laughed this time. Mrs. Sparks pursed her lips together and narrowed her eyes at me. Annoyance radiated from her.

_I really could not wait until she retired at the end of this school year. _

"Thank you, Mrs. Sparks. I'll take it from here." She got up and with the straightest back, I have ever seen, left my office. I swiveled my chair towards Dominique. "You'll clean the biology equipment after school."

She shrugged looking out of the windows. "It was still worth it."

I wanted to respond but there was a small knock on my door. Alice walked into the room without waiting for an invite. "Who got Granny Sparks panties in a twist?" She spotted Dominique and smiled. "Never mind. You know I cannot help but think that Granny had a terrible accident as a child. She must have gotten skewered by a broomstick and it couldn't be removed."

Dominique chuckled and I rolled my eyes as Alice dropped a paper bag on my desk. "You forgot your lunch…again."

"She forgot something you made?" Dominique asked in mock wonder.

"That's the thing Dom, my food is delicious and yet she forgets it at home at least twice a week." Alice said sitting down in the corner of my desk.

Dominique interned for Alice, helping her with her fashion line. Sometimes she joined us for dinner. She was almost like a daughter to us. Something she used to her advantage during school.

"It's because I know who will deliver it." I teased.

"I knew it. You only married me for my cooking skills." Alice quipped.

"Actually I married you because you're great in bed."

"Okay, that is my cue. Alice, I will be seeing you around five. Your wife here." She jerked her thumb in my direction, "Punished me with after school cleaning for mouthing off during class." She winked at us and walked to the door.

"Actually Dom, I'm closing early today." Alice said cheerfully. Dominique just shrugged.

"Try to behave okay?" I tried to keep this somewhat professional.

"Sure, sure. No promises though." With that, she was gone.

Alice chuckled and stood up. "Well, I have to go do some final touches to some designs."

I opened the paper bag. "Thanks for the lunch, I'm…" I forgot what I wanted to say. Instead of lunch, the bag contained a light blue fabric.

"What is this Alice?" I asked holding the fabric up in the air. Then I quickly placed it back in the bag, blushing wildly. It was the skimpiest undergarment I have ever seen.

"I thought that since it is our anniversary today, you deserved some dessert." She said suggestively from the doorway. She gave me a wink. "Hurry home after school."

I smiled. Even after fifteen years, she still managed to take my breath away.

**The end.**


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